James Rix can remember his first visit to Emmanuel vividly. It was in the spring of 1968, just weeks after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was brought to campus by Stan Oliver, an Emmanuel alumnus, and supporter living in Rix’s hometown of Memphis, with hopes that Rix would be the first athlete to integrate the athletic program at Emmanuel. 

“Stan and his brother Don brought me to campus for a visit,” Rix remembers. “Driving through Tennessee and Georgia, it wasn’t an easy trip, but I was determined to get back into school and my parents trusted Stan, who convinced them that Emmanuel was the place for me.”

Although Rix arrived at midnight for his visit and was escorted directly to the gym, he quickly realized Oliver was right. There was something special about Emmanuel. 

“For the next two hours, we were in the gym playing with some of the guys on the team,” he said. “It was a great experience.”

From the start, Rix knew that Emmanuel was where he belonged. 

“Being with the student body and the administration, they were all very receptive to having me there,’ he said.“99% of the students came from segregated high schools, just like I had, so for them to take me in and welcome me as a fellow student versus someone from another planet made me feel like I was a part of the family.”

Once the season began, Coach Lloyd Turlington, who was also instrumental in recruiting James to Emmanuel, showed that the Lions were a force to be reckoned with.

“We were very competitive,” he remembered. “Emmanuel was a junior college at the time, and we were playing against four-year schools and being very competitive.”

Although James felt at home on campus, he knew that members of the administration had to answer tough questions. At the time, Emmanuel was one of the few colleges in Georgia that had integrated. 

“As much as I loved being on campus, I know there were people in the community who didn’t support the decision,” he said. “There weren’t a lot of social activities for me in the area, so Dr. Kirk Hartsfield and I would go in the gym on Saturday nights and play one-on-one.”

That’s the kind of support James found at Emmanuel. He found people who cared about him as an individual, not just a basketball player.

“Members of the Emmanuel community and the Franklin Springs IPHC church, they showed a lot of support,” he said. “They’d start coming to games, inviting me to their house for dinner when they knew I was on campus alone, the Emmanuel family was very good to me.”

His favorite memory from his first year at Emmanuel, however, didn’t come on the court. 

“There was a little house next to the gym, and a little old lady lived there named Granny Jones. She was 85-90 years old and every time we left the gym she would always say “Granny Loves You,” to the group as we passed.”

One day, James was walking by himself, and Granny Jones stopped him. 

“She said, ‘I see you every day and I like what I see, you’re always polite when you pass.’”, he remembered. “It brings tears to my eyes because here’s this lady who meant what she said and said what she meant. She was an inspiration to me the rest of my time at Emmanuel because she was what we all are supposed to be like in terms of our Christian experience.” 

After his first year at Emmanuel, James was drafted into the Army and was deployed to Vietnam. He was thousands of miles away from Franklin Springs, but his Emmanuel family found a way to show him they cared.

“One of the things that helped me through my time in Vietnam was the love of the people from Emmanuel,” he remembered. “I would get mail, be put on prayer lists, etc. from students and some people I didn’t even know. At the time I needed support the most, I would get a letter from someone at Emmanuel to let me know they were praying for me.”

After two years in the Army, James had opportunities to go to other colleges and finish his playing career, but there was only one place he wanted to be…Emmanuel. But this time, he wasn’t alone.

“My brother, Phil came to Emmanuel in the fall of 1971,” he said. “We had never been on the same team before, and it was a joy to play together. He was a spark that kept me going, having not played in two years. He was an inspiration to me, and I appreciated all he did to keep me going.”

On and off the court, James views his playing days at Emmanuel as something special. 

“We were good as a team,” he said. “But the friendships and fellowships that came with it were special.” 

After graduation, James finished his degree at Memphis State University before going into education. He began as an elementary PE teacher, working his way into becoming a high school basketball coach. In 1975, he had the opportunity to transition to a career in Corporate America where he worked for worked in the beverage industry for 24 years, for both Pepsi and Coca-Cola.

“I started at the bottom of both companies and worked my way into a regional role,” he said. “I had the opportunity to travel around the country and had the opportunity to work with and meet top people in America like President Jimmy Carter.”

James continued coaching basketball as well at every level from middle school to NCAA Division I. In 2006, his team won the High School State Championship in Louisiana, a memory he’ll always be proud of. 

What’s a piece of advice he’d give an Emmanuel student?

“Take advantage of every opportunity you have to learn from the people who have gone ahead of you,” he said. “There’s a lot of expertise on faculty and administration at Emmanuel so find someone to sit down with and have them share their experience.”

As for graduates heading into their next chapter? James had an important piece of advice. 

“Keep God in your life,” he said. “He is the most important leader you can have and he’s not going to steer you in the wrong direction.”

Although his Emmanuel journey began in 1968, James is still active in the Emmanuel community as a member of the Board of Trustees and through a scholarship foundation he started with Coach Turlington, named the Turlington-Rix Foundation. 

When James Rix stepped onto the Emmanuel campus, he was excited about the opportunity to play basketball at the next level. What he didn’t realize at the time was that at Emmanuel would find much more. He would find a place where he belonged.