University of Arkansas Fayetteville - Razorback Yearbook (Fayetteville, AR)

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18 Student Life

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HOTAIR Sophomore Kevin Croxton toots his horn during the halftime performance at the Homecoming football game. The Razorback band was a vital link in keeping the spirit alive at the game. M. Roberts photo FOAMING During the Homecoming pep rally, liv¬ ing groups got together and rallied with alumni to show their support for the football team. Fraternity and sorority members often dressed for the occa¬ sion as did these organizations. M. Roberts photo pecting to win the homecoming crown, but when the shock subsided, she enjoyed the job. During a year when confidence in the Razorback football team was unusually low, Polite, a varsity cheer¬ leader, believed that the most im¬ portant part of her job was support¬ ing the team. Many people were feeling nega¬ tive toward the team, and if anyone is to be positive, it s me, Polite said. Polite, a junior English major, said that being chosen queen was a great opportunity to show her con¬ tinued support for the team. All of the girls could have repre¬ sented the team as well as I, and I was very honored that the team selected me, Polite said. Polite, the youngest of a large family from McGehee, said that her parents were very excited about her being chosen and that her entire hometown was proud. Polite, who represented the peer counseling group SMILE (Students Making It Lighter Everyday), admit¬ ted that the most important part of the weekend was the halftime ceremony. Actually being crowned was the greatest part of [homecoming], she said. Although I knew that I was queen, the coronation made it official. Y MATT H E L M E “Many people were feeling negative towards the football team, and if anyone is to be positive, it ' s me.” ■ Queen Kim Polite Homecoming 17

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DEDICATION ceremony Tim Cullen, Associated Student ovemment president, and Ralpl vf ' lac Students Associa President, unveil the Silas H. Hur deriir°! T1rnerative P |ac l ue during t incl H° n cere monies. Speakers mcluded (top) Chancellor Dan anH K r ' (Center) Chauncey Brumr Photos ° m Maxwel1 - T - Doster “A LANDMARK EVENT FOR THE UNIVERSITY.” STUDENT HALL DEDICATED TO SILAS H. HUNT L ONG BEFORE the Little Rock Central High Crisis and other forced integration through¬ out the South, Silas H. Hunt walked the hills of the UA campus. In 1948, Hunt made history by entering the UA School of Law and breaking the color barrier at traditionally white southern colleges. Hunt, 25, was the first black student admitted to an institution of higher learning in the South, and he did so without litigation or resistance. Hunt attended only one semester before he was forced to leave due to health problems, but he paved the way for others to follow, such as Jackie Shrop¬ shire, the University’s first black graduate and George Haley, brother of Alex Haley, author of Roots. Hunt, a World War II Army veteran, had gradu¬ ated from the predominantly black Arkansas Agri¬ cultural, Mechanical and Normal College in Pine Bluff. He died in April 1949 from tuberculosis. In 1993,45 years after his historic entrance to the University, the UA celebrated Hunt’s courage by naming the new student hall in his memory. Silas H. Hunt Hall, an all-purpose center located at Maple and Garland where students conducted business related to admissions, financial aid, enrollment and student accounts, was dedicated during “The Silas Hunt Legacy” celebration weekend in February. “This is a landmark event for the U of A in the tradition of great celebrations such as the rededicat- ion of Old Main,” Chancellor Dan Ferritor said. “We owe a debt of appreciation for the contributions of black students and alumni and I believe this is a celebration 45 years overdue.” During the weekend events, Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher was the keynote speaker at a banquet honor¬ ing Hunt. Fisher, who, with her attorney Thurgood Marshall, in 1948 battled the state of Oklahoma all the way to the Supreme Court where she won entrance to the University of Oklahoma law school, helped open the door to higher education tor blacks. “I relate to Silas Hunt in the early days,” Fisher said. “Hunt was sent to the basement to study. 1 was sent behind bars and ropes and chains to study. And I know — 1 appreciate — the anxiety, the fear and the pressure that Hunt had to feel during those early days, because I felt them also.” Fisher said that Arkansas, particularly the UA, pioneered the desegregation of institutions of higher education. “The University of Arkansas and the state of Arkansas are to be commended for being in the forefront of providing education for African-Ameri¬ cans at the graduate and professional levels,” said Fisher. “Arkansas led the way in desegregating higher education in the southern states, and history will certainly record you that way. That is very, very wonderful.” Fisher also said that great victories have been won , and many changes have taken place in today’s society. She said that the responsibility now is to pass the fruit of those victories on to the next generation. “We who have seen remarkable changes take place in society, from the days of shackled slavery, to the days of Silas Hunt, to the days of Thurgood Marshall, we have a duty to share our experience with our young — to share our confidence in the democratic process,” Fisher said. “We have a duty to say to them, democracy works, but you must work to make it work.” Y MATT H E L M E Silas H. Hunt Hall Dedication 19