By Emily Wax
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 27, 2000; Page B02
The soaring whistles and the cries of "Give it Up" bounced about the T.C. Williams High School auditorium yesterday as Kia Belk's wide eyes hunted through every face in the dark room. The 17-year-old senior had to know. Actually, she was "dying to know."
Had Denzel Washington, "that fine, fine cutie," walked right into her school?
The idea did not seem farfetched. As Belk and just about every other T.C. Williams student has known for weeks, the film "Remember the Titans," which features Washington, will open Friday on movie screens across the nation, forever memorializing the 1971 championship football season at T.C. Williams during the Alexandria school's first year of racial integration.
Glossy movie posters showing Washington's pensive face have been hanging in the school's main office, outside the auditorium, even in a student restroom.
Arriving in the auditorium to listen to a talk by 10 players from the 1971 team, Belk had heard the rumors that the star of the movie might be there, too.
"Even the thought of him coming is making me love this school," Belk giggled to her friends. "Even if he doesn't come, I'm, like, whatever. Our school's in the movies!"
While many schools have run from Hollywood's cameras, T.C. Williams and Alexandria couldn't be more pumped about the release of "Remember The Titans."
The city is holding an old-fashioned pep rally in front of City Hall tonight, featuring the 1971 cheerleaders, coaches and players as well as the current T.C. Williams marching band.
Some teachers at the school are incorporating the integration story into class discussions, and the school newspaper is covering all aspects of the movie opening and planning several front-page stories. The school is also hawking memorabilia--T-shirts, bumper stickers and gold-plated pins.
Students who never had school spirit are getting goose bumps thinking of the role their school played in bringing together black and white students.
"At first I thought this was sort of dumb," said Abdul Khan, 18, a senior. "Then I really thought about it, and I was thinking, wow, this happened here. Maybe students here today will find meaning in it."
Last night, the film's glittery, red-carpet opening at the Uptown Theater in the District did attract Washington, along with President Clinton, Alexandria School Board members and Alexandria Mayor Kerry J. Donley.
Tomorrow night, teachers and other Alexandria residents will don sparkling evening gowns and tuxedos when Hoyt's Potomac Yard Theater screens the movie as a charity event. Tickets are $100, and money raised will go toward the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria, which provides college tuition grants.
Dressed in a suit yesterday instead of his normal khakis, T.C. Williams Principal John Porter said he is enjoying the hoopla, while making sure his school still focuses on academics.
"We are also remembering the SOLs," said a smiling Porter, referring to Virginia's high stakes Standards of Learning exams.
The uplifting film, set to rock-and-roll oldies hits that had Porter rushing out to buy the soundtrack, focuses on the year when Alexandria's three high schools--two of them predominantly black, one mostly white--merged into one school, T.C. Williams.
"We had different backgrounds. We had differences in how we dressed, in what music we listened to, in what schools we were from," Robert Lockett, who is white and played center on the 1971 team, told the students assembled yesterday. "We were dealing with a whole lot of things that you guys are dealing with today. And we came together as a family."
Three teams' worth of football players had to be winnowed to one. Divisions were drawn along former school, and racial, lines.
Another potential racial divide occurred when the white football coach at the city's old Hammond High School, Bill Yoast, was passed over for the top coaching job at T.C. Williams. That job instead was given to a tough black assistant coach, Herman Boone, who is played by Washington in the movie.
As they sat on metal folding chairs yesterday, the 1971 team members gave the students the advice they themselves received from Boone: Have courage. Set goals. Never give up.
"It doesn't matter where you come from or what resources you have," said Lee Roy Davis, who is black and played cornerback. "You can always overcome it. You can always get along with others. You can always be a Titan."
To the dismay of many students and even some goo-goo-eyed teachers, the rumors that Washington might come to the event turned out to be false. Nor will he be coming to the school later, according to Porter.
But as the students filed out of the auditorium, many said they felt inspired by the ex-players' words.
Belk and her friends said they would get over not seeing Washington. The rest of the world would see T.C. Williams as the school that overcame racism. And for now that was thrilling enough.
Staff writer Ann O'Hanlon contributed to this report.
© 2000 The Washington Post Company