Ben Dyer (Photo by Jay Paul)
The plain cotton T-shirt Ben Dyer wears to Richmond running events is so worn out and dotted with scattered holes, most people would have tossed it out long ago.
In fact, he says, fellow racers over the years have joked, “If you win this 5K, tell them to forget the trophy and give you a new T-shirt.”
But Dyer, a former teacher, keeps wearing his humble outfit to remind himself of a lesson his students taught him: Never judge a person by how they look on the outside. Those students, he says, “changed my whole life.”
Dyer, 83, taught math and science at Petersburg High School for 29 years, retiring in 2007. Known for his kindness and positive personality, he was also a basketball and cross-country running coach who was inducted into the Petersburg High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022. “We love him. He always has a smile, and he’s always friendly to everyone,” says Lena Lewis, a longtime staff member at the school.
A Petersburg-area native and biology major at Virginia Military Institute, Dyer was sent to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, to train medics for the Vietnam War soon after his 1965 graduation. The experience inspired his career in the classroom. He taught physics at Matoaca High School in Chesterfield before transferring in 1978 to Petersburg High; the historically Black school’s alumni include basketball player Moses Malone and actor Blair Underwood.
The pivotal day occurred in 1993, Dyer says. On the first day of school, he welcomed his new chemistry students, outlined what they would be learning and shared his expectations. Examining the students as he spoke, Dyer says, he noticed a Black boy with long locs and a white boy with long, blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. For a fleeting moment, he recalls, he wondered to himself whether the long-haired pair would be diligent students.
Dyer’s split-second assessment was quickly proved wrong, he says. The two emerged as some of the classroom’s strongest achievers, turning in homework on time and receiving excellent grades. When assigning lab partners, Dyer noticed other students inched closer to the two boys, hoping to be paired with one of them.
The students, Dyer says, never knew about his few seconds of prejudgment based on their hair length. “We had a good relationship. No student regretted having me, nor did I regret having them,” he says.
However, Dyer was embarrassed that he let even a brief misappraisal of the two students cross his mind. An active church member who is committed to loving his neighbors, he says he’s always believed in seeing people’s hearts and character and not judging based on outward appearances, so he was disappointed in himself for the lapse. “I have had a lot of growth in my life,” he says, “and that was a big part of the growth those kids taught me.”
Photo courtesy Ben Dyer
To remind himself of the slip and remember that what’s on the outside doesn’t define the inside, Dyer, a lifelong runner, attends races in the tattered T-shirt. Over the years, he has not only won races but broken records, surprising those who may see his ragged attire and assume he doesn’t look like a “real” runner.
Jim Bates remembers meeting Dyer — and seeing the shirt — at a race years ago. “What was really remarkable was Ben Dyer’s determination,” he says. “We ran side by side for a long time, even though I was about 12 years younger and at my running peak. But even more amazing is what I saw and heard after the race: authenticity. … Racing was secondary; we were busy honing our character.”
Thinking back to that long-ago first day of school, Dyer remembers one of the young men, Genesis Ridley, because he was also a star basketball player who worked as hard on the court as he did in the classroom. He doesn’t recall the other student, James, as clearly, but he learned later that James and his father were known for researching and unearthing historical artifacts, then presenting their findings at Petersburg National Battlefield events.
Genesis Ridley, No. 32 in the back row, during his high school basketball days (Image courtesy Ben Dyer)
Ridley now works in IT and forensics in Northern Virginia. “I don’t see Coach Dyer any differently than I’ve ever seen him,” he says after hearing the story. “It sounds human. I don’t think any less of him. We’ve all judged, especially when you don’t have the insight about that person. But to recognize that in yourself and make a correction is admirable.
“I was the only basketball player in the region who had long hair,” Ridley adds, explaining that he was raised Rastafarian and had long hair for cultural reasons, so he was used to people noticing it. (Rastafari is a religious and social movement that originated in Jamaica and combines biblical and Afrocentric beliefs.)
The former student says he enjoyed Dyer’s class and later majored in chemical engineering at Virginia Tech. “Chemistry has always been one of my favorite subjects. He made the lessons interesting.”
Hearing that Dyer described him as a top scholar who inspired others to learn, Ridley says, “That’s amazing to be told I’ve impacted people and for him to say I was one of his best students ... and I feel blessed I unknowingly impacted his life.”
Never miss a Sunday Story: Sign up for the newsletter, and we’ll drop a fresh read into your inbox at the start of each week. To keep up with the latest posts, search for the hashtag #SundayStory on Facebook and Instagram.
