Published in the Arizona Daily Star, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025
By Steve Kerr
I recently turned 60, which means it’s been almost 40 years since I graduated from the University of Arizona. (Time flies when you’re getting old….or something like that.) Those six decades have been unbelievably good to me. I have so much to be thankful for, including my time in Tucson at the U of A. My experience there playing basketball for Lute Olson and studying the humanities changed my life, and I feel forever indebted to the university for providing me with a great education and a life changing experience.
With time comes perspective, and as I look back at my life and my career now, I realize how lucky I’ve been. Much of that good fortune came my experiences traveling the world, both through my family and through basketball. My father, Malcolm Kerr, was a professor of Middle East history at UCLA for 20 years, and he frequently took sabbaticals that took our family overseas. I was born in Beirut and spent time in France, Tunisia and Egypt, interspersed with many years in LA on the campus in Westwood.
Basketball also took me around the world. After my sophomore year at Arizona, our team took a three week trip to Europe, playing games in France, Italy and Holland. We traveled together, playing games against club teams and national teams, not only improving our team’s play but giving many of our players their first taste of international travel. My Wildcat teammates remain some of my best friends on Earth, and we still talk about our experience together overseas.
I didn’t realize it then, but the combined experience of living in different cultures, learning to speak new languages, and playing basketball in different countries taught me about life, about people and a shared experience of humanity. Much of my worldview, my perspective and my ability to connect with people really stems from those experiences. All of those experiences have shaped the coach and person I’ve become, and the career I’ve loved.
That’s why my wife Margot (a fellow Wildcat alum) and I have decided to help launch the Kerr Family Endowment for Humanities Abroad at the University of Arizona. We are committing $1 million to the College of Humanities over the next few years. The endowment will fund scholarships to support humanities students on study abroad programs. The College of Humanities at the U of A has become one of the best liberal arts institutions in the nation and an example for other schools to follow, and I want to make it even stronger. I’ve talked with the dean, Alain-Philippe Durand, about the goal of building an endowment big enough to provide every humanities student at the U of A the opportunity to spend part of their college experience overseas. It is an ambitious project, but one I believe is quite possible, and one that will reap rewards for every future Wildcat in the College of Humanities with a desire to see the world.
The College of Humanities has study abroad programs all over the globe, and the faculty members who lead these programs are experts in the local languages and cultures, so wherever students choose to study, they will have an academic advantage. I believe these experiences help shape lives forever, offering a worldview and perspective that will benefit students regardless of where their careers take them. And in a world that seems increasingly divided and tense, it has never been more important for a connection among people and culture, and shared values of humanity and compassion.
I will always be proud of my school, and my education in the humanities, and I believe this endowment will help many students broaden their education and gain a perspective on the world that can only help bridge cultural divides.
Bear Down.
Steve Kerr is Head Coach of the Golden State Warriors. He graduated from the University of Arizona in 1988 with a degree in General Studies and in 2024, received an Honorary Doctor of Humanities degree.