Celebrating Black History Month: How Academics and Athletics Led to Success
University
Reporter 
Institute
for Community Inclusion, A National Center,
To Move To UMass Boston
Russert
to Speak at Commencement
Fulbright
Scholar Aids
Environmental Management in China
WUMB
Debuts New Station at WNEF 91.7
Educator
Inspires Beacon Leadership Students
Technology-Enhanced
Classrooms Open for Spring Semester
Reality
Check Conference Examines Gap Between Income and Housing Costs
“Happenings
@ UMB” Column New to University Home Page
Center
for Social Policy Researchers Recognized for Work on Issues of Homelessness
in America
Celebrating
Black History Month: How Academics and Athletics Led to Success
Best
Practices: Nursing Students Connecting with Communities
Annual
“Teaching for Transformation” Conference Held at University
Revealing
and Celebrating a Great Poet
PeopleSoft:
Where in the World is Becky Hsu?
By
Philip S. Hart
In Massachusetts particularly, public higher education has taken a back seat to private higher education. We have been reminded of this disparity as we again prepare for cuts in the higher education budget system-wide, as well as here at UMass Boston. The Winter 2002 issue of the Trotter Review, “Race, Ethnicity and Public Education,” takes a look at public education in relationship to the African-American population. As I noted in the Commentary, I am a product of public education from kindergarten through graduate school. I attended the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU) as an undergraduate and Michigan State University (MSU) as a graduate student, both large state universities. Both CU and MSU have big-time athletic programs, as well as high-caliber academic programs. At CU I was a student-athlete. At MSU I was a graduate student, as well as a semi-pro basketball player.
I was reminded of the historic role of athletics and academics at MSU by a recent New York Times article that told of the classic November 19, 1966, football game between MSU and Notre Dame that ended in a 10-10 tie. It was the game of the century, according to the Times article. I was in attendance at that game, during my first year in graduate school at MSU, where football was king. All the talk was about players like Bubba Smith, Jimmy Raye, George Webster, and the coach who brought these southern boys to MSU, Duffy Daugherty. These black players, who were from Texas, North Carolina, and South Carolina, were not yet welcome at the predominantly white universities in their home states. So they migrated north to Michigan seeking their athletic fortunes. As the Times article notes, Daugherty was one of the first coaches to create a nucleus of black stars at a school like MSU. At the time Notre Dame only had one black player, Alan Page, who is now a Supreme Court justice in Minnesota.
Also in attendance at this game were Larry Thompson, now the deputy attorney general under John Ashcroft, then a first year graduate student from Hannibal, Missouri; Robert Green, a professor of education who was Martin Luther King’s education advisor; DeeDee Garrett (now Bridgewater) from Flint, now a famous jazz singer; and my future wife, Tanya Hinton, then a freshman at MSU. MSU was not only a frontrunner in terms of bringing black athletes to campus, but also with a host of others who became notable figures. I was among those who helped bring Roxbury native Clifton Wharton to MSU as the first black president of a predominantly white university in 1970.
As we fast forward to 2002, Tyrone Willingham has been appointed the head football coach at Notre Dame. He is the first black head coach of any sport at Notre Dame. Tyrone is an MSU grad from North Carolina. His role model was Jimmy Raye, the black quarterback of that 1966 MSU team, who hailed from North Carolina.
History is made up of important people and events. Public institutions of higher education are just as notable in their ability to make history as are their private counterparts. Events like the 1966 MSU-Notre Dame football game and people like Cliff Wharton and Tyrone Willingham are the type of special people who give meaning to Black history.