Barrier breakers for the Gala
Celebration on February 14, 2004
We are proud to announce the individuals who
will be honored February 14 at the University of North Texas'
50th anniversary of desegregation celebration gala – 50
Years of Progress and Opportunity.
In a decade-by-decade tribute,
UNT will bestow the title of “Barrier
Breaker” on the distinguished individuals who overcame
barriers to pave the way for others to follow. Honorees will
range from the university’s first African American students
and graduates to its first vice president and provost.
The individual
stories of these Barrier Breakers provide accounts of both the
early days of desegregation at North Texas and the
progress made in the nearly fifty years since the first barriers
were broken. Each generation of students, faculty and staff has
made headway toward integrating our campus. Yet, the dates of
these accomplishments also tell another story – the integration
of the university has been a gradual, even slow, process. We’ve
made headway, but North Texas still has some distance to go before
we achieve full diversity of our university community – students,
faculty and staff. The university remains committed to the achievement
of that goal.
The university has many pioneers who broke barriers
to pave the way for others at North Texas – far too many
to recognize at a single event. The barriers broken by the gala
award recipients
are representative of the types of obstacles overcome by our
many pioneers.
While we’ve dedicated substantial resources
to researching our archives and other materials to identify our
Barrier Breakers, we know the outcomes of our efforts may overlook
an important barrier or individual. We have created a Barrier Breakers
page on this site featuring additional
Barrier Breakers that
can
be added over the web during the year long UNT celebration. Please
help us by adding a Barrier Breaker to this web site if you’ve
broken a barrier or want to recognize someone who has.
(To be honored at the February 14 Gala)
1954, Alfred
Tennyson Miller, first African American student
admitted to NT Ph.D. program (awarded posthumously)
1955, Joe
Atkins, filed lawsuit to enroll as undergraduate student,
earned M.Ed. from NT in 1967
1956
(spring), Irma E. Loud Sephas, first African
American undergraduate student admitted to NT (honored posthumously)
1956
(summer), Hayward Sparks, first African American freshman
admitted to NT
1956 (fall), first cohort of African American undergraduate
transfer students
- Ulysses S. Cox
- Barbara Beverly Kincaide
1956
(fall), first cohort of African American NT freshmen
- James
Bowdre
- Thelma
Boykin Brown
- Joyce
Coleman
- James
Gayle
- Floydell
Barton Hall
- Sherman
Harris (honored posthumously)
- Abner
Haynes
- Lurline
Bradley Jackson
- Dr.
Leon King
- Burlyce
Sherrell Logan
- Joyce
Metters
- Bettye
Morgan
- Lawrence
Clinton Peppers
- Eleanor
Stimpson
1956,
first African American athletes (football)
- Abner
Haynes
- Dr.
Leon King
1956, Mrs.
Norvell Reed, accepting award on behalf
of all Denton residents who housed NT students
before they were permitted to live in on-campus
housing
1956,
Southeast Denton Ministerial Alliance, accepting award on behalf
of all Denton churches who tended to the NT African American
students’ spiritual and social needs
1957,
first African Americans to live in on-campus NT student housing
- Sylvia Boyd (honored posthumously)
- Floydell Barton Hall
- Elaine Harvey
- Bettye Morgan
1957,
first African Americans
to receive NT graduate degrees
- Dr.
Theodore Lee, Jr.
- Thelma
Sparks
- Augustus
Whitted
1957, Barbara
Beverly Kincaide, first African American student
to receive an undergraduate degree from NT
1959
(January), Ulysses S. Cox, second African
American student to receive undergraduate degree
from NT
1959
(August), Dr. Herbie K. Johnson, third African
American student to receive undergraduate degree from NT
1959,
Bobbie Kimble Boyer, first African American Denton resident
to graduate from NT
1963, Billy
Harper, first African American member of
NT’s One O’Clock Lab Band
1964, Dr.
James Gray, first African American to work
for the Campus Chat student newspaper
1964, John
Savage, first African American Yucca Who’s Who
1964,
Dr. Wayman T. Dever, first African American
to receive Ph.D. from NT (honored posthumously)
1964,
Denton Christian Women’s Interracial Fellowship, honored
for their role in promoting race relations in Denton
1968,
Sheila Wheatley Clark, founding president of Delta Sigma Theta
sorority, the first African American chartered Greek letter
organization at NT
1968, Joel
Bennett, founding president of Omega Psi
Phi, the first African American fraternity
at NT
1968,
Gloria Frazier Evans, first NT Relay Queen
1968, Marva
Bennett-Bland, first African American cheeleader
at NT
1969, Nicky
Wilson Porter, first African American Yucca beauty
1969,
first African American NT Talons
- Dr. Mickey Burnim
- Robert
Davis
- Bennie
Edwards
- Jimmy
Palmer
- Johnny
Simpson
1969,
first African American Green Jackets
- Rev.
Sarah Taylor Davis
- Dr.
Carol Taylor Mitchell
1969, Dr.
Mickey Burnim, first African
American elected officer of NT Senate,
president protem and vice president
1969,
first African American NT students named to national Who’s
Who
- Dr. Jacqueline Hill Brown
- Dr. Mickey Burnim
- Rev. Sarah
Taylor Davis
- Kathryn Haley Flangin
1969,
Dr. Wayman T. Dever, first African American
faculty member at NT (honored posthumously)
1969
(summer), Dr. Theodore Lee, Jr., first African
American administrator, associate dean of students
1969
(fall) Harve
King, first African American NT associate
dean of students for the long term
1969, Frank
Wyman, founding president of the Afro-American Student
Union
1969, Janice
Johnson, founding president of the NT chapter
of the NAACP
1969, Joyce
Kyle, first African American assistant dorm director
1969, representing all early administrative support staff
1970,
first African American students in Mortar Board
- Dr.
Jacqueline Hill Brown
- Kathryn
Haley Flangin
1971, Ernest
John Milam, Jr., first African American executive
foreman of custodial services (honored posthumously)
1973,
Susie Square, first African American president
of the Panhellenic Association
1973,
Alma Jean Washington, first African American Student Health
and Wellness Center nurse
1973, Rosalind
Johnson, first African American NT Homecoming Queen
1974,
Quincy Ollison, first African American NT Student Government
Association president
1976,
Alton Thibodeaux, first African American equal opportunity
officer at NT
1977, Dr.
Herman Totten, first African American Associate
Dean at NT
1980, Anthony
Lavallais, first African American member of NT40
1980, Janice
Madlock, first African American
programmer analyst and supervisor
in the NT Computing Center
1983, Joe
Greene, first African American
member of NT’s Board of Regents
1983, Dr.
Margaret Lucas Jacobs, first
African American NT academic department
chair
1985, Joe
Greene,
first African American named NT Distinguished Alumnus
1985, James “Jimmy” Gales,
first African American NT head men’s basketball coach
1990, Dr.
William Gregory Sawyer,
first African American dean of students
1989,
first UNT Alumni Association board members
- Dennis
Dunkins
- Bob
Ray Sanders
1990,
first African American students in the UNT
Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science
- Trae
Cotton
- Steven
King
- Edward
Thompson
- Sharhonda
Wilks
1991, Dr.
Herman Totten, first UNT African
American Regents professor
1992,
Dr. Renay Ford Scales, first African American assistant vice
president
1992,
Dr. Gregory Sidberry, first African American UNT librarian
1994,
Roy Culberson, first African American UNT associate athletic
director
1994,
Matt Simon, first African American UNT head football coach
1994, Phyllis
Patterson, first African
American UNT Foundation board
member
1995, Reginald
Bond, first African American director of UNT
Student Health and Wellness Center
1996,
Regenia Phillips, first African American director of UNT dining
services
1996,
Angela Eke, first African American UNT student to receive a
prestigious national scholarship, the Spencer Foundation Pre-Dissertation
Fellowship
1996,
Dr. Pamela Hill, founding director Multicultural Center
1997,
Renaldo Stowers, first African American associate general counsel
at UNT
1998,
Thomas King, organized UNT’s first African American alumni
association, the Trailblazers
1998, Cassandra
F. Berry, first UNT associate
vice president, Division of Equity
and Diversity
1999,
Constance Lacy, first African American UNT student to win a
Harry S. Truman Scholarship, a prestigious national scholarship
1999,
first African American UNT Eagle Ambassadors, founding members
- Judy
Anderson
- Dena
Hulin
- Ashley
Johnson
- Cynthia
Uduebor
1999,
Marjorie Craft, first African American president of the UNT
Alumni Association
2001,
Dr. John E. Price, first African American vice provost of the
UNT Dallas Campus
2001,
Gary Gailliard, first African American UNT assistant chief
of police
2001,
Cinnamon Sheffield, first African American UNT senior women’s
athletic administrator
2003,
Donna Brooks Asher, first African American UNT associate director
of human resources
2003, Nicholas
E. Williams, first African American UNT marching
band director
2003
Dr. Herman Totten, first African American faculty executive
assistant to the president
2003,
Dr. Howard Johnson, first African American UNT provost and
vice president
