members of WSU’s volleyball team.
Bob Schutte ’67 and Kevin and Diana ’79 Roberts played host to members of WSU’s nationally ranked volleyball team at a Nov. 1, 2008, dinner. Held at Biaggi’s Ristorante Italiano after the Shockers dispatched the Illinois State Redbirds, 3-1, in Normal, Ill., the event has become a tradition, thanks to the efforts of Schutte, who has sponsored after-game dinners for many of Wichita State’s traveling sports teams for more than a decade.
“I have tremendous respect for these student-athletes,” Schutte says, “not only for their athletic prowess but their academic success. They are excellent representatives of our great university. In our own small way, we alums in central Illinois want to recognize the achievements of these students even when they are hundreds of miles away from the friendly confines of WSU.”
Schutte's volunteer alumni and student-support efforts through the years have delivered many rewarding experiences, he says. "Two things stand out," he explains. “I'll never forget after a baseball game years ago against Bradley University in Peoria, Ill., some Shocker parents sought me out and some of the moms hugged me and thanked me. They said that the fact that there were people far from home who were looking after their kids gave them a great sense of relief. I was truly touched and to be honest a little choked up.
"The other time is when you run into former players who remember the get-togethers. Just last fall after the Shocker victory against Illinois State, two former players on Phil Shoemaker's WSU volleyball team came down from the stands to visit. They came all the way from Chicago to see the Shocks. Again, a touching moment. It feels good to make a lasting and, hopefully, a good impression on these kids. Actually, I'm surprised, and flattered, they recognized me and, after all these years, my gray head of hair!"
