Hall of Fame
This year’s honorary inductee is Dave Whaley, the retired Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff for President Mark Anarumo at Norwich. A former rugby player, Whaley has championed the men’s and women’s rugby programs. He has held numerous titles since becoming the Director of Alumni Affairs in 1981, including the Alumni Director and Director of Planned Giving to the Corporate Secretary.
“Being elected to the Hall of Fame was a surprise,” said Whaley. “I was a good (not great) athlete competing in a sport that was under the radar at Norwich for many years. The recognition of our efforts to raise the visibility, the validity, the competitiveness of the rugby program is not only an honor for me but also for the hundreds of student-athletes who played rugby and now see it successful on the national stage.”
Whaley was a three-year member of the Norwich Rugby Club as a cadet. He continued playing in graduate school for UMass-Amherst and later played men’s rugby for the Denver Highlanders. Whaley returned to Norwich in 1981 and began a 20-plus year role as advisor, coach, and mentor to the Norwich men’s rugby program. He led the search for Norwich’s first full-time rugby coach (Bob Weggler). He also supported his Norwich classmate Steve Looke ’76 in establishing the Norwich women’s rugby program.
“Early on I recognized I was not prepared to play JV or varsity sports at NU. Joining the rugby team my sophomore year allowed me to grow as an athlete, to meet new friends and to become involved with a sport that would become part of who I am...it was a lifelong calling that allowed me to mentor hundreds of student-athletes who I now know as lifelong friends.”
“Joining the rugby program gave me an outlet from the academic and Corps responsibilities; a group of men that would become my friends for life. It gave me confidence to grow as a man, to make decisions involving others and to step forward to accept responsibility...for myself and for others.”
He served the greater rugby community as the president of the Northeast Rugby Union, collegiate director of the New England Rugby Union for ten-plus years and as an active official with the New England Rugby Referees Society.
In his role as a fundraiser for Norwich, he worked with former Norwich Athletic Director, Tony Mariano, to form the first formal Norwich athletic fundraising group, the Norwich Athletic Club, the predecessor to the Maroon and Gold Club.
After following his older brother Hank onto the grounds of Norwich as a rook 51 years ago, Whaley retired from Norwich on June 30 after 41 years of service.
