University of Southern California - El Rodeo Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

Page 10 text:

CAMPUS EVENTS MIRROR TROY— 1962-1963— SPECIAL TO EL RODEO— It was a year of challenge, a year of achievement. It was marked by a more strenuous attempt to discard the party school reputation and to improve the quality of a USC educa- tion. It was an exciting year, and at times, a controversial one: many questions were asked and left temporarily unanswered. It was also a year of hard work and accom- plishment for the student. And it will be remembered as one of the most outstanding years in the history of sports at USC. That traditional, indivisible barrier that separates campus from world was cracking now and then to allow the outside to seep in and make its impact, great or slight . . . the racial issue. President Kennedy and the cold war crisis, politics. The nation focused again on the growing racial prob- lem with the start of fall semester as Negro James Mere- dith sought admission to Ole Miss, and finally made it — despite the personal obstruction of Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett — with the aid of federal troops. Shortly thereafter, A. L. Wirin, president of the American Civil Liberties Union, spoke on campus. A colorful figure on a conservative campus, he said on the racial issue, The kind of courage Meredith is displaying is vital to the progress of the country in breaking down the barriers of supposed inequality. A few days later, a USC assistant professor of political science. Dr. Gerald Rigby, told students that he felt Barnett and other vocal Southern leaders who were keeping politically alive by breaking segregation were actually helping to bury it. The tide of hatred and preju- dice rose high again in the spring — Birmingham, Ala- bama; site of ugly scenes, mass demonstrations, and a sense of foreboding, which by mid-May had spread to South Carolina. And almost simultaneously, Negro spokes- man and author James Baldwin spoke on May 10 on campus to an overflow crowd. A tense nation heard President Kennedy confirm on October 22 what they had begun to suspect. Soviet offen- sive missiles were in Cuba. To counter this threat to peace, the President quarantined the island and called for hemis- pheric support of his action. An on-campus commentator. Dr. Paul Hadley, dean of the summer session, called Ken- nedy ' s address ... the strongest piece of brinkmanship the United States has ever engaged in. A Daily Trojan poll showed student support of his move; they felt he made the only possible decision. The November elections drew constant student interest. Support fluctuated between California gubernatorial candidates, however. Early in October, a Daily Trojan poll showed that The bulk of the students of voting age interviewed said they would go along with the ' lesser of two evils, ' Governor Edmund G. (Pat) Brown. On Octo- ber 24, Governor Brown spoke on campus, citing the problems of the state ' s growth and the steps that must be taken to meet it. A poll taken the same day showed that Brown may have lost supporters. One student said he felt the governor ' s speech was interesting, but evaded specific