50 Years of Desegregation: How Tulane is Celebrating

Guest blogger: Alex Williams

50 years ago, Tulane admitted its first Black students. This school year is a milestone for the university as it celebrates this very important anniversary. As the semester winds down, I thought it would be a good idea to reflect on everything Tulane has done so far to celebrate. In just the first semester of this year, Tulane has had 6 very distinguished speakers, which is almost unheard of. Among them are Michelle Alexander, legal scholar and author of The New Jim Crow, the book that was chosen for Tulane’s first year reading project; prison reform activist Jackie Sumell; and Angela Davis, Freedom Activist and former Vice Presidential candidate. As a freshman, it made me really happy to see how much Tulane does to commemorate important occasions. For more about the actual desegregation, check out this link from Tulane magazine: http://www.pageturnpro.com/Progress-Printing/53269-109569_Tulane-Sept13-Ptp/index.html#16

In addition to featuring a number of speakers, Tulane has held many events to commemorate the anniversary. On November 20, the Tulane Law School held a re-enactment of the court cases that led to Tulane’s desegregation. Current law students played the lawyers and judge. It was moderated by Tulane Law School professor Robert Westley; Laura Adderley, the chair of the African & African Diaspora Studies department; and Carolyn Barber-Pierre, the Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs and director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs. Mrs. Barber-Pierre is the head of the committee that is sponsoring these events, which includes panel discussions and documentary screenings. 

“We have so much to learn from our history about race relations, justice, equality and the vestiges of desegregation we are still dealing with today,” says Barber-Pierre. “This re-enactment is designed to get our students thinking about the great injustices of the past and to help them navigate similar situations that are unfortunately still a part of our society in many ways.”

This year, special attention is being paid to the first Black students who attended Tulane, including the ones who filed the initial lawsuit that led to the desegregation. Stephen Martin, Sr. was the first Black scholarship athlete to play at Tulane, and the first Black athlete to play in the Southeastern Conference. Pearlie Hardin Elloie and Barbara Guillory Thompson were the two original plaintiffs in the desegregation case, and are featured in an upcoming documentary about Tulane’s desegregation. This documentary features many other groundbreaking Black students at Tulane, and is slated for release next year. A preview of the documentary as well as a short article about it can be found here: http://cooperproject.org/doctulane50preview/. Marilyn Bernard, a 1968 graduate of Newcomb College and one of the people featured in the film had this to say:

"It’s really interesting. When Carolyn called me and said, ‘It’s been 50 years and we’re doing this documentary.’ I’m thinking it never occurred to me that 50 years later somebody would want to know, ‘How did you feel when you did that, when you went to that school?’ because it was just part of my life. It was just a part of my entire 66 years." -Marilyn Bernard (photo from Tulane Jambalaya, 1968)

Although so much was done this semester, next semester is going to be just as great. More speakers, more events, and more awareness about the issues that we still face today. I will definitely update as the year goes on, so stay tuned!

When I’m not blogging, I enjoy the company of my dog and getting into shenanigans. Follow me on Twitter as I make my way through freshman year! @TulaneAlex