Photo courtesy of Trinity University

Venus Williams, tennis superstar and entrepreneur, spoke with President Vanessa Beasley and members of the nearly-full Laurie Auditorium crowd on Wednesday, becoming the latest speaker in Trinity’s Distinguished Lecture Series.
Through an open exchange with Beasley, Williams discussed various facets of her life from childhood to now. Touching on her time on the court, her entrepreneurial endeavors and her attitude toward life, the formerly first-ranked singles player spoke openly with the San Antonio community, drawing out continuous audience engagement.
The university president talked to her about a number of topics, giving audience members an inside perspective on the global icon. Williams detailed her mental state throughout the peak of her competing years and her interests, such as the film “Kindergarten Cop” and escape rooms. On a larger scale, she recounted her experiences as one of the pioneers for women of color in athletics.
“I was there to win tournaments and kick some butt, but there was other butt that needed to be kicked,” Williams said.
As a winner of seven Grand Slam singles tennis titles and four Olympic gold medals, Williams is widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time. In line with Trinity’s history of success in the sport, the men’s and women’s tennis teams accompanied her as she practiced on the campus courts, even hitting with some of the student-athletes.
Student-athletes made up only a small portion of the audience. People from all corners of the San Antonio community flooded into Laurie Auditorium to hear the renowned Olympian speak. Sarah Moser, San Antonio resident and lecture attendee, spoke on her admiration for Williams and how she inspired her.
“She’s just such a powerful woman so I wanted to come here and hear about tennis but also her business, entrepreneurial side,” Moser said. “The biggest takeaway, you know, talking about failures. We’re gonna fail and that’s kinda OK, and just always pick yourself up. … And not to be fearful to do things. I think fear holds a lot of people back. To be less fearful and just do it with the fear, that’s the takeaway.”
Before drawing in the masses, this event was under development for many months. Bruce Bravo, senior director of conferences & special programs, helped coordinate the event from the beginning. After the selection process, the committee decided that Williams best aligned with Trinity’s values and would encourage engagement from both students and the San Antonio community.
“We work to offer a speaker who will provide a compelling story with a message that resonates with all members of our community through an event that is free and open to the public. We hope everyone will walk away from the event enlightened by Venus’ incredible journey of success on and off the tennis court,” wrote Bravo prior to the event.
After the audience’s continuous engagement, Williams prompted a short Q-and-A segment at the end of the night. The night ended with a question from Michael Williams, a nine-year-old boy who requested tips to improve his tennis skills as someone who had never lost a tennis match. Williams smiled at him, then responded.
“When you lose, hopefully, what you’ll learn is that you can’t wait to get back and make it right … hopefully, you learn how much you love what you do and how much more you want to do it,” Williams said.