Orlando T. White's Fight for Air
Orlando T. White is an Associate Dean of Residential Education at Stanford. With 14 years of experience, White has worked all over the country from Colorado, to New York, Philadelphia, and the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) before coming to Stanford. He serves by overseeing the recruitment, selection, and training of 500 undergraduate student staff and supervises the full-time staff in Residential Education supporting Neighborhoods Magnolia and Olive.
Growing up right outside of Colorado Springs with his single (Black) mother, White was not as connected to outdoor recreation although he was surrounded. He faced stereotypes about his race (as a person of color) and outdoor recreation. History shows racial minorities being pushed to more urban areas (cities) rather than rural spaces. Because of that, White never had much opportunity to spend quality time outdoors until he got more into fitness. Growing up, before finding himself in an outdoor setting, White considered himself to be a major part of choir, theatre, and TV production. Later in life is when White decided to explore the outdoors in an effort to break stereotypes.
Finding a community through interests was something important to White, although this came with challenges of its own. At the beginning of his journey, he became more and more interested in fitness, yet struggled with finding the right fitness community for him. Feeling as if he didn’t have the right body, or fitness level, and held intimidation by how fitness is impacted by stereotypes of masculinity. That’s when White took a different route and found Stair Climbing.
Stair Climbing is about the participants climbing higher to reach their goals - by climbing the stairs in some of the tallest buildings in the world. White has always had an interest in cities and tall buildings, specifically with architectural design in mind. He decided that stair climbing was right for him since it is something he enjoys and it supports a great cause. The American Lung Association, a nonprofit organization, puts on events in different cities in some of their most iconic buildings or stadiums. With every “Fight for Air Climb,” the participants must have a minimum fundraising goal of $175 to be able to climb. Before White’s second climb with the American Lung Association, he raised $1150, mostof which was raised from colleagues at Stanford. With raising over $1000 he was able to receive the VIP incentives. With this incentive, he was able to attend a special happy hour, choose his race time, received a gift bag before the race, and was recognized as a VIP fundraiser.
The American Lung Association has a mission of a world without lung disease. They do this through research, advocacy, education and events. White has a unique connection to the association because his grandmother was a smoker for many years. He describes growing up in the 1990’s as regulations began cracking-down on marketing of tobacco products to children with cartoon images such as “Joe Camel”. Years of this targeted marketing made it hard for people to stop smoking until their health is at serious risk. This happened when White’s grandmother suffered a heart attack. Luckily, she had no signs of lung disease at the time. Fast forward to 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic gave people insight on how important lungs are and just how fragile they can be. Last year was the first year back to stair climbing, with the original mission in mind with an addition of COVID lungs on top.
One of The American Lung Association’s largest climbs is in Las Vegas, Nevada at The Stratosphere. White moved to Las Vegas in 2012, then in 2013 he saw a short news clip on TV about the “Scale the Strat” air climb and immediately thought, “oh I can do that.” In his apartment, he trained up to the tallest point on the seventh story of one of the oldest and tallest dorms at UNLV where he worked. He eventually got to where he was able to climb all the stairs in 28 seconds. Seven stories are nothing compared to 108 floors of The Stratosphere tower. On race day, White was ready to go. He didn’t ask for anyone's help before the climb, and did little research - he was ready to do it all on his own. He remembers starting the race and then stumbling over to an oxygen station. The paramedics asked if he was ready to go down, but he was determined to push through. He did just that, fighting to get to the last step, he may have been one of the slowest and his time was at the bottom third. He definitely paid for it the next day, he said he could barely walk.
White learned a lot from his experience in 2013, now in 2022 he is going into this year's climb much more prepared. This time he hired a coach, Stephen Gates based out of the United Kingdom. They were focusing on nutrition, finding the right pace, and finding different ways to prepare for the climb to be as successful as possible. Now that White is here at Stanford, the Arrillaga Outdoor Education and Recreation Center and all 10 stories of the new EVGR Building “A” high rise have been his training grounds. White went into this race in a different headspace. He just wanted to finish the climb without needing to stop for oxygen. Even though his coach told him that he would climb to the top in 22-25 minutes. On the day of the climb, Coach Gates was more nervous about the experience than White was. His time when he reached the finish line was just under fifteen minutes, a big accomplishment. He was on such a high for the following three days because of surpassing his goal, he even tied for 11th place in his age group. He wasn’t sore the day after, thanks to proper training, and learned that asking for help was valuable.
White recently set new goals for himself and completed them. On April 9th, 2022 he raced with the Bay Area Association and did the climb in San Francisco. The climb was held at the 555 California street high rise building downtown. That climb was only 1000 fewer steps than The Stratosphere. He completed the climb in thirteen minutes and thirty five seconds. White is embracing the new identity of an amateur stair climber.
New Achievements for Orlando
In August 2022, White climbed the Manitou Springs Incline in Colorado, an outdoor staircase near his hometown. In addition, he accomplished one of his long-term goals in climbing the World Trade Center in June 2023. "I completed Tunnel 2 Towers climb in the top 20% of 854 runners. I finished in 26 minutes and 7 seconds. I wanted to finish in under 25 minutes. I didn't get the time I wanted, but I still completed it. The tower is so high I could feel my ears popping 2/3 of the way up. This is the tallest/longest climb I've done."
White learned more than just how to be a good stair climber, he learned how to make every step count. Reflecting back on his climbs, he realizes that growing and asking for help is beneficial to him and everyone else around. With regards to his identity, he believes men need to learn there is no harm in asking for help. This, reflecting upon his progress from 2013 compared to 2022 and hiring a coach. Additionally, White feels Black people and other people of color should not be ashamed of reclaiming spaces and activities where they have not always seen themselves. He takes pride in helping his colleagues and students improve their lives and set goals that are reachable and have a finish line. White believes that no one is ever too old to start goals for themselves and it’s never too late to go after something you believe in.