Former Winthrop Hall-of-Famer killed in Texas wreck

Janiva Willis, the founder of a Charlotte-based youth mentoring program, died in a car wreck in Texas this week during a cross-country bicycle tour she organized to raise money and awareness for programs nationwide like hers.

Willis was a licensed clinical social worker, motivational speaker and founder and CEO of the nonprofit I Dream in Colors and the Dream Challenge Tour.

She was making the journey from San Diego to Charlotte when she was killed.

Willis was a passenger in a car that was struck by a tractor-trailer Tuesday night on westbound Interstate 10 near Van Horn, Texas, according to the Texas State Police. The driver of the car, Jeffrey Turner, also died.

Her passion, she said on her LinkedIn page, was helping youth from low socioeconomic backgrounds in need of additional academic and life support.

Willis also was a former student-athlete and Hall of Fame member at Winthrop University in Rock Hill. She was a four-year All-Big South softball player and was named NCAA South Carolina Woman of the Year in 2005 and a top-10 finalist for NCAA Woman of the Year.

As a Winthrop student, she was voted to the 2005 CoSIDA Academic All-America third team and was a 2005 Arthur Ashe Scholar recipient.

The Nova Scotia native went on to play for the Canadian National Team in 2005 and 2007. In 2012, she was inducted into the Winthrop Athletics Hall of Fame.

In 2013, she was invited back to her alma mater to deliver the Winthrop Convocation address to the incoming freshman class.

“We are stunned by this tragic news,” Winthrop athletic director Tom Hickman said in a news release. “Janiva was such a vibrant and positive person to be around.

“She was so excited about the work she was doing to help mentor the youth in this area and was such a great role model,” Hickman said. “We were eagerly awaiting her arrival back to Rock Hill following her journey. She certainly made her mark on both our softball program and the university. She will be missed.”

This story was originally published April 14, 2016 at 4:37 PM with the headline "Former Winthrop Hall-of-Famer killed in Texas wreck."