Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • 18

Section A Page 18 I Star-Telegram I Sunday August 24 1997 ris UTA 64 ii3 racial gap with relative ease? 111 Li A 1 1 Wvvir r1Ptiinio :7 1 444 '1' t4 7' 1 4 1 i i- NZviumoo1'to1i 1 5Q-- 41614W4147 ---c-Lk 4 1tit 100-- It 1 at 1 41 r--'----- T--- i f- i tlik 4 Q01 Texas "I'll never foget UT" Scar lett said "It was very rewarding overall and gave me the foundation I needed'I to move forward in medicine" The year after Scar lett graduated a race riot in Detroit led to 43 deaths and about $45 trillion in property damages Unrest develops at UTA the late 1960s the national 1 civil rights movement was in full bloom King's message of nonviolent persistence still captivated black and whiteAmericans especial- ly the middle class But a younger generation began heeding a message of aggression and black power offered by the Black Panthers and Malcolm who was assassinated in 1965 'f Unrest finally surfaced at UT- Arlington The school's "Rebel" theme was an affront to some stu- dents who called for abolishing the 1 school mascot "Johnny Reb" the 1 school song Dixie and a Confeder- ate battle flag tthat was rou- inely flown Yet several campus polls showed that an 1- overwhelming majority of students mcluding ') some black students favored keepge ing the Rebel theme Ronald r-1-- Star-TelegramPAn MOSELEY JR Woolf was instrumental in the integration of Arlington State College now UT-Arlington in the '60s environment But I'm African-American and I work for him I live in the home next to him I have a biracial daughter and he thinks the world of her and treats her like his own granddaughter" Later Felker said simply: "I've changed But I don't want to talk to nobody" The quiet and the storm Arlington State College's integration was not met with the violence that marred many schools and cities in the 1960s BY JEFF PRINCE Star-Telegram Staff Writer ARLINGTON When fall classes begin tomorrow at the University of Texas at Arlington about 20000 students of all colors and cultures will step through wide-open doors and pursue a golden key known as higher education Yet just 35 years ago those same doors were closed to certain students those with dark skin those expected to live in separate neighborhoods drink from separate fountains and swim in separate pools Jesse Oliver applied for admission in the spring of 1962 but was refused because of "regulations" The short slight 17-year-old from Dallas was offended at then-Arlington State College's suggestion that he attend Prairie View commonly referred to than as a "colored college" What would become UT-Arlington was a 20-minute drive from home Prairie View about 40 miles north of Houston was a four-hour drive "I got a little upset to get that letter and to be told in this land of the free where I had to go to school" said Oliver now 52 "I decided that I would not apply to mother school if it came to that" It never came to that The policy changed and Oliver became one of about 20 black students to enroll in the fall of 1962 "If I hadn't gone to Arlington I wouldn't have gone to school that fall and who knows what could have conspired" Oliver said "I might have gone to work somewhere and never gone to school" The University of Mississippi also changed its admission policy that year President Kennedy sensing that conditions were ripe for a melee ordered federal marshals to escort the university's first black student James Meredith to campus A riot ensued and two students were killed By comparison integration at Arlington's college caused a mere ripple Two dozen people sent venomous letters to school president JR Woolf but there were no protests no marches no riots Looking back most black students from the 1960s recall with fondness the color-blind opportunities and nonviolent acceptance at Arlington State College Oliver went on to become a lawyer state legislator district judge and state deputy attorney general Opening doors opening minds chools across the country espe- cially in the South remained segregated in the 1950s though legal challenges were cracking the armor of discrimination In Austin the University of Texas in the mid-1950s anti-climactic Everette Gray then 18 began his first semester at Arlington State College He and other black students were mindful of the civil rights movement and the injustices hurled at African-Americans nationwide but the movement passed them by he said "How do you lash out at some people because of something going on elsewhere that just wasn't going on at our particular location?" said Gray 52 "I felt very comfortable in class I didn't feel like I was in a place where I wasn't wanted I had very good experiences there" Ronald Jones who also enrolled in 1963 recalls scattered instances of white students making quiet racial overtones but said overt racism was neither expressed nor tolerated "The dean of men made it very clear and the administration made it clear that this was going to be the law of the land" said Jones 53 who is managing director of the city of Garland's customer service department Gray became the 0 university's first black engineering graduate in et'' 1968 the A same year Martin Luther King Jr -I was assas- sinated Star Gray Arlington State Col entered the received some vitric military school was integrate' served in Vietnam earned numerous decorations rose to the rank of colonel and in February 1997 was elected to UT-Arlington's Military Hall of Honor In 1965 Maxwell Scarlett then 22 transferred to UT-Arlington from North Texas State University In Alabama that year black protesters marched from Selma to Montgomery where they were met by state troopers who threw tear gas then chased and pummeled marchers with batons In the Watts section of Los Angeles a week of rioting looting and mass destruction culminated in 34 deaths 4000 arrests and millions of dollars in property damage But there was little unrest in Arlington where the black student population had grown to several hundred of the school's 11800 students "1 can truthfully say that I experienced no hostility" said Scarlett now 51 "It was a very pleasant receptive environment" White students were amiable though not particularly fraternal Scarlett said "Most of it was a respectful distance" he said Scarlett graduated in 1966 He became a physician and now practices emergency medicine in central Arlington State received some vitriolic school was integrated y- el 14 Star-TelegramJERRY HOERR College administrators letters when the in the 1960s tegramnERRy HOERR administrators bti 1 the 1960s Jones remembers -1 that a black friend tried to win a student election to become the Johnny Reb mascot but lost in a tight race The editor of The Shorthorn Donna Darovich printed a front page editorial on Nov 25 1968 defending the Rebel theme But dissent was persistent from a small group of students There were sit-ins of protest and marches of support During a well-attended pep rally a black man witnesses are unsure if he was a student ripped a Confederate flag from a stand causing a minnr Qrnfile minor scuffle became the first major university in and author of Transitions: A Cententhe South to accept African-Amen- nial History of the University of can undergraduates Texas at Arlington UT-Arlington's student newspa- "This wasn't an issue that was per The Shorthorn printed the resisted" Saxon said "That was results of a campus poll in 1956 important" showing that white students by Woolf announced the decision at almost a 4-to-1 margin were "willing a news conference and stories to attend classes with Negroes" appeared in newspapers across the But state law condoned segrega- South tion and the university under "Before when other institutions Woolf's administration continued to admitted black students they never bar black students made any public announcement of In Dallas Oliv- it" said Woolf er showed his now 73 and rejection letter to retired "We his high school announced it counselor Mil- instead of people dred Finch who skulking around showed it to her 4 et wanting to know husband Fred jut was tme It Finch a lawyer et! was just the right who provided ser- thing to do" vices to the rut Woolf filed National Associa- vK 7 away a handful of tion for the angry letters and Advancement of 4 moved forward Colored People Most of the letters and who was A were sent by Dal- already planting las residents who the seeds of inte- Star-TelegramBRuce MAXWELL threatened to pull gration Jesse Oliver now a Dallas their white chilFred Finch lawyer was one of the first dren out of the black students at Arlington wrote a letter dat- college Some ed May 25 1962 State College now the Univer- offered the corn- sity of Texas at Arlington asking that black mon idiom of big-youths be admit- ots such as "ship ted to Arlington State College them back to Africa" "I am sure it will not be necessary Charles Felker Jr of Dallas sent a to resort to the courts in this matter" letter dated July 12 1962 saying he Finch wrote would "fight to keep as many white He was correct children away from your school as I By 1962 Woolf had already real- can" ized that change was not only When contacted by telephone this inevitable it was right Woolf tele- month Felker now 81 declined to phoned MT Harrington chancellor discuss the letter instructing his sec-of the system and recom- retary Alex Homback to tell an mended changing the admission pol- Arlington Star-Telegram reporter to icy The governing board agreed "go to hell" Integration had begun Homback a 34-year-old black Support from school administra- woman defended her boss tors and the community eased the "He still doesn't like certain peotransition said Gerald Saxon associ- pie and he is still very biased" Horn-ate director of UT-Arlington libraries back said "He's a product of his A week before fall classes began 1962 Oliver received a letter asking him to report for freshman orientation He was enthusiastic though still somewhat embittered by his initial rejection And other things bothered him: Campus housing and athletic programs remained segregated no mixed dancing was allowed some supposedly opened-minded educators were almost antagonistic "There were several professors who were a little too generous in their pronunciation of Neeegro" Oliver said "They gave a clear indication of what their feelings were" But things got better Oliver said "I noticed the school imposed a rule that said anyone responsible for disruption would be immediately expelled from school" Oliver said "Ultimately both the administration and the students accepted it as a foregone conclusion the school would be open to all qualified applicants" In 1963 almost 200 years after Thomas Jefferson claimed that all men are created equal and 100 years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation reinforcing that ideal discrimination fear and hate still reigned nationwide The Rev Martin Luther King Jr and two other ministers were jailed in Alabama for leading a nonviolent civil rights march A subsequent march in Washington DC drew about 200000 participants who listened to King's stirring "I Have a Dream" speech In sleepy Arlington 1963 was "Everybody started running and screaming" Darovich said "Nothing I really big happened but you would have thought something serious happened because of the panic" 1 Darovich changed her mind soon after her first editorial was printed and wrote a subsequent editorial calling for doing away with the Rebel theme "It was pmving to be a really divisive issue on campus" said Darovich who is now the university's public affairs director University of Texas System regents abolished the Rebel theme Jan 29 1971 On June 4 the regents approved the nickname Colleges From Page 1 :444 i i i 1 ef '4' ic: '14 0-L- ti 4 were given to Hispanics 327 percent to blacks 15 percent to Asian-Americans 94 percent to Mg los and 24 percent to Amerimi can Indians The Legislature this year restructured the ethnic recruitment scholarship and renamed it the New Horizons Scholarship allocating $14 million to be awarded based on factors such as students' socioeconomic background the wealth of the school district they attended 4 and whether they are the first college studentsI in their families As of June 39 percent of the awards had been to Ang los 29 percent to Hispanics 18 percent to blacks 12 percent to Asian-Amencans and 2 percent to American Indians "We can see a fairly drastic drop-off but what I can't tell you is whether those students were picked up by another financial aid pro- gram" said Cobb with the Coordinating Board She said the numbers show that 'There is a tremendously high unmet need among whites as well as among blacks and Hispanics" The program was designed to provide a select group of students with loans averaging' $4500 a year to pursue master's or doctoral degrees The loans could be forgiven if the recipients taught at Texas universities after1 graduating rules stemming from the 1996 Hopwood case Named for Cheryl Hopwood a UT law school applicant who did not make it into the 1992 entering class the suit challenged a now-defunct admissions policy that allowed some blacks and Mexican-Americans to be considered separately from In March 1996 the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans affirmed the decision in the case that race cannot be considered in graduate school admissions to achieve a diverse student body And the Texas attorney general interpreted the decision to mean that racial factors must be eliminated from all admissions and financial aid decisions in higher education The most conspicuous fallout has been at the UT law school itself where minority applications were down substantially Law schools nationwide reported an overall 15 percent drop in applications but UT officials said that trend doesn't explain why the Austin law school received 42 percent fewer applications from blacks than last year Fewer Mexican-Americans applied also with 25 indicating plans to attend "It seem to me the educational environment will be less rich" UT law school Dean Michael Sharlot said "To a large degree law students educate each other Diversity of life experiences is very very important" While the University of Houston School of Law has accepted more minority students this year than last the Texas Tech School of Law will probably have fewer minorities in its first-year class Tech law school officials blame the drop in minority enrollment partly on their inability to continue offering affirmative action scholarships Tech accepted four out of 34 black applicants this year compared with 11 of 44 in 1996 The law school accepted 52 of 201 Hispanic applicants for this fall compared with 54 of 230 last year Preliminary liyires from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board also show that offers to Anglo applicants increased by 7 percent the board reported Similarly admission offers to black applicants at Texas declined by 27 percent and offers to Hispanics fell by 13 percent while offers to Anglo applicants increased by 4 percent On the other hand Prairie View University a historically black school was expecting about 500 students more than last year Admissions officials do not expect the full impact of new race-neutral admissions rules adopted by the Legislature to be felt until the 1998 school year Austin lawyer Terry Davis who received engineering and law degrees from UT said the Hopwood ruling has made a difficult recruiting task even harder In the late 1970s when he attended law school "everybody assumed that every black person there was admitted on affirmative action" said Davis who was on the law review and graduated with honors "The bad press that has taken place now regarding very few blacks enrolling is going to hurt the University of Texas tremendously because there has always been this underlying problem" he said "It's going to take quite a long time to overcome this" State education officials have yet to assess Hopwood's impact on financial aid although Cobb said that only a fraction of scholarships grants and other assistance was channeled into programs that considered students' race or ethnicity Statistics do show that eliminating racial factors from the Slate Scholarship for Ethnic Recruitment shifted many more awards to Anglo students The scholarship had been available to students in the minority at the institution they attended such as blacks and Hispanics at a predominantly Anglo college or Anglos and Asians at a historically black university During the 1995-96 school year 406 percent of the ethnic recruitment scholarships Slat-TelegramALLISON SMITH Christopher Sparks a University of North Texas doctoral student in biology is a participant in the Minority Doctoral Incentive program racial considerations in admissions and fmancial aid last year following the Hopwood court ruling on affirmative action With most Texas colleges and universities starting a new academic year this week educators across the state are struggling to find ways of ensuring access and equity for all students The University of Texas School of Law for example expects to enroll only four African-American first-year students this semester down from 31 last fall in a class of about 475 And that could shrink to one because three of the four were on Harvard's waiting fist Alarmed by dropping minority enrollments across the state Urs student government is planning a fall summit on ways to improve diversity Even the State Bar of Texas is getting involved organizing a September seminar to study ways of ensuring diversity in the state's undergraduate schools and professional programs "No one in Texas can imagine going into the next century and not having a reasonable representation of Latino and African-American lawyers as members of the bench" said State Bar President Frank Newton who is also dean of the Texas Tech University School of Law "If the numbers of minority graduates from colleges and universties don't change we have a real problem" he said "Whether we want to or not we're rapidly moving into a world market Our greatest asset is education" The 1997-98 school year will be the first time that state schools fully implement new black and Hispanic enrollment could decline at the state's four public medical schools Blacks and Hispanics applied to state medical schools in the same proportions as last year but those groups made up a smaller percentage of the students accepted for admission this fall While actual enrollments are not calculated until the 12th day of classes preliminary data project a substantial drop in minority undergraduate students at some major schools said Sharon Cobb assistant commissioner for student services with the Coordinating Board For example admission offers declined by 25 percent for black candidates to UT and by 13 percent for Hispanic candidates while Sparks-acknowledged that being a minority has helped with financial aid such as a fel-1 lowship through the American Psychological Association But even without affirmative action he said "I feel like I would have been able to do everything I have been able to accomplish" Sparks last week received this year's out- standing doctoral student award from the Federation of North Texas Area Universities a' consortium of UNT Texas Woman's University and Texas University-Commerce "I'm pretty sure I haven't gotten any extra' special privileges" he said 4 "Being a minority is not going to benefit me in the long run".