Bill Russell on education

NBA player Bill Russell, speaking on an NCAA Convention panel[*1] on gang influences in academics (link goes to a PDF file):

“We have a responsibility to educate these kids,” he said, “not just to read and write, but to educate them philosophically and even religiously.  Our duty, the educators’, is to correct this culture because the nations with the best standard of living are the most educated places.”

It’s odd to think that such a statement would be considered notable let alone newsworthy, but we are talking about academia here.