January 9, 2006

     She is named after an island. Bad fit.
     Islands are self-contained, distant, often isolated.
     Involvement is Saona Chapman's bag. It's a big bag.
     The University of Richmond senior is in her third year as a co-captain of the Spiders basketball team, which she leads in scoring and assists. She's a guard.
     Chapman carries a 3.5 grade-point average with a double major in leadership studies and religion. Look no further. Chapman qualifies as an impressive college student.
     Deeper analysis, however, reveals the essence of this woman, whose parents picked the name of an island in the Dominican Republic for their firstborn.
     Saona (say-OWN-uh) does her best work beyond UR's 350 wooded acres. UR promotes community service through its student-athlete leadership program, in which she has played a major role as organizer of an annual food drive, a participant in the construction of Habitat for Humanity housing and a speaker at area schools.
     "She operates on two levels," said Bruce Matthews, a UR assistant athletic director. "She has been very active within the structure of what we do, but she's also been very active on her own."
     Chapman leads Sunday school classes. She spent part of her summers as an intern at a Richmond church, offering guidance to a youth group. She also has volunteered at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Richmond.
     "My faith in God has inspired me to see a need in people," she said. The need encompasses "more than food and shelter."
     That belief is illustrated by her involvement with Church Hill Activities & Tutoring, which was founded three years ago by Percy and Angie Strickland. C.H.A.T. invites neighborhood kids to the Stricklands' home on Chimborazo Boulevard for academic assistance and supervised play three afternoons a week.
     Said Percy Strickland: "It would be very easy for Saona to go to UR and not even see this part of the city."
     Instead, she counts her visits with C.H.A.T.'s kids as her second-favorite pursuit, behind hoops competition.
     Division I basketball. Demanding academics. Community service. Chapman has advice for those who long for her time-management skill.
     "You just have to be wise with not being idle. Things like TV, surfing the Net, video games they can take away a lot of time. Stay away from those things. They do nothing for your brain, nothing for this world."
     Clark and Tami Chapman chose "Dove" for Saona's middle name. Good fit.
     Peace. To all.