Integration
While jailed on charges related to a peaceful protest against segregation, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote an open letter on April 16, 1963, to members of the white clergy in Birmingham, Alabama.In his letter, he explained his frustration with those who urged a slower, moderate approach to segregation. He ended by saying:
I hope this letter finds you strong in the faith. I also hope that circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as an integrationist or a civil rights leader but as a fellow clergyman and a Christian brother. Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.
In the spring of 1963, a majority of the members of the Baptist Student Union signed a resolution favoring the following points: "That all applications from qualified Negro students be processed and considered on the same basis as those received from applicants of other races" and "that Negro guests be received on our campus and offered the same courtesies which are extended to other guests." (Collegian, Feb. 14, 1964)
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 2, 1964. It prohibited discrimination in public places, provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities, and made employment discrimination an illegal act.
In February 1964, the University of Richmond announced that it had racially integrated night courses sponsored by the American Institute of Banking.
In the fall of 1968, The Collegian reported that the first African-American student had enrolled in Richmond College:
Mr. Barry Greene, a freshman with an eye on a biology major, is Richmond College's first Negro dormitory student. A Richmond native, he attended the Peddie School in Heightstown, N. J.
Green says his reception has been much like that of any other student with "half of the student body seeming friendly" and the others indifferent.
Green likes the school because of its size and he says the atmosphere is much like that of the prep school he attended. He plans a freshman course with Russian, math, English, physical education, and biology." (The Collegian, September 9, 1968)