CIAA Hall of Fame Members
Sherman Lea played a major role in Virginia Union football’s championship run in 1973. The 1973 team finished 9-1 on the season, losing only to South Carolina State University, 12-0. The Panthers shut out six of their last seven opponents, including a school-record four consecutive shutouts. Lea was right at the front of the action, as he helped anchor the team’s offensive line as the team’s starting center.
Following a successful four years at VUU that spanned 1971-1975, Lea would eventually begin a lengthy career in law enforcement and politics that still stands today. In 1984, he was named Chief Probation and Parole Officer becoming the first African American to hold that position in Virginia and was later promoted to the Western Regional Director in 1992. Some of the various titles Lea has held throughout his career includes the Regional Director for the Virginia Department of Corrections, served two terms on the Virginia parole board (appointed by Governors McAuliffe and Northam), and he also served five years on the Roanoke City School Board including one year as Chairman.
Once he progressed into politics, Lea would find himself being elected to the Roanoke City Council in 2004. He’d hold this position for four years before continuing to move up the ranks, being elected as Vice Mayor in 2008. During his tenure, Mayor Lea has served as Chairperson of the Personnel Committee, and a member of the Audit and Legislative Committees. As a member of the City Council, Mayor Lea formed the Domestic Violence Task Force in 2005 and began the annual Lea Youth Outdoor Basketball League in 2015 and the Lea’s High School Winter Classic Basketball Challenge in 2015. In 2016, Lea was appointed Mayor of the city of Roanoke, and played a crucial role in getting the CIAA football championship moved to the Roanoke/Salem community, where it would occur from 2016-2024.