friday, October 17, 2003
homecoming
the university daily kansan
13B
WHEEL OF FORTUNE —
9.12.1922
KU Chancellor Ernest H. Lindley writes a letter to parents requesting they discourage their children from bringing cars to campus, since the automobile, as he notes, "is a menace to the democratic spirit of the school.
HIRE EDUCATION 2.10.1933
As the Great Depression reaches its lowest depths, KU officials send more than 400 letters to KU faculty members and Lawrence residents pleading for some odd jobs that will help students remain in school.
FLAG DAY — 12.6.1939
The present-day official KU flag, designed by undergraduate Eleanor Grider (43), is first flown over old Fraser Hall.
Accepted African-American roles, social norms continue to evolve
By Henry C. Jackson
hjackson@kansan.com
Kansan senior staff write
A young African American graduates high school and decides he would like to become a doctor.
He leaves for his state's flagship school. It is cheap and close to home.
The young man works hard at college. He sits in assigned seats, toward the back of classes. Some people are nice, but most don't talk to him much. He struggles through experiments in biology and chemistry labs, passing his classes. And, then, after two years of suffering and toil, he is told he must leave the University of Kansas. Would-be doctors who are African-American must finish their studies at another more liberal school, perhaps in Iowa. They can only go so far in Kansas.
Scenarios like this one were a reality University of Kansas' African-American students faced during the early part of the 20th century. In "What the Negro Students endure in Kansas," an article published in Haldeman-Julius Monthly in January 1928, Anna Marcet Haldeman-Julius details what it was like to be an African-American student in Kansas before the civil rights movement. The report offers a window into the evolution of education for African-American students, an evolution that current students say
is not yet complete
"Change is gradual," says Gabe Roland, Kansas City, Kan., senior. "Teachers and students need to have that drive. I don't feel like everybody makes that stride."
Smaller teachers' colleges in Pittsburg and Emporia were the only schools that Haldeman-Julius reported had relatively warm climates for African Americans. She was particularly amazed at cafeteria life when she dined at Emporia with its chancellor.
The University also kept its athletics team exclusive. African-American athletes weren't allowed to play intercollegiate sports at the University, a stark contrast to today's diverse athletics program.
in Haldeman-Julius' report on African-American students, the things society sees as social norms today she would consider big accomplishments for integration. Haldenman-Julius, for instance, was happy that at the time in Lawrence "the colored students can now rent a hall for their parties." When the report was published, African-American students also had just gained the right to "secure better, although strictly segregated seats at concerts" in Lawrence.
"At one table both colored and white students were sitting apparently quite unconscious of each other's presence," she wrote.
"I can sit where I want," says Trell Allen, Wichita junior.
The University is trying, says Melva Landrum, Minneapolis, Minn., junior. But, she says, as a black woman she still feels like she must prove herself when she does work in groups composed almost entirely of white students.
But, says Allen, things can't stop there. In classes of nearly 300 students, Allen said he was frequently one of two or three African Americans. Allen said more cultural understanding — a concept that took a back seat to basic human rights in the '30s — was needed for the University to become truly accepting.
Today there's no need for
amazement
"I feel like I have to work two times as hard to prove I'm not stupid," she said.
Still, Landrum said, diversity in education has come a long way.
"People care more about other cultures." Landrum said. "People are trying to be more cultural less ethnocentric."
In a communication class, "Influence in Rhetoric." Roland said he saw the next level for integration. The class, composed of 180 people, most of whom were white, required Roland to speak up.
"I got to use my wit," Roland said. "My mind got me here, I'm going to beat you with my mind."
Edited by Katie Bean
TATTOOS
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