milesl
6/5/2006, 12:10 PM
Here is another article about Oklahoma that the KC star did. They are doing a number of stories of the big 12 at 10 years
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/colleges/big_12_conference/14741257.htm
Posted on Mon, Jun. 05, 2006
Oklahoma hasn’t forgotten Gautt’s legacy
By RANDY COVITZ
The Kansas City Star
1957 PHOTO
Prentice Gautt
NORMAN, Okla. | - NORMAN, Okla. | The enlarged photograph of freshman Prentice Gautt, smiling from behind a stack of a dozen textbooks, greets student-athletes entering the Prentice Gautt Academic Center in the north end of Memorial Stadium.
The same black-and-white photo also adorns the foyer of Evans Hall — the school’s main administration building — as well as a main hallway in the Oklahoma Memorial Union. In all, his picture hangs in at least a half-dozen buildings on campus.
Gautt, more than anyone else, symbolizes the University of Oklahoma’s commitment to diversity, and the ubiquitous photos all over campus honor the man who broke the color barrier at Oklahoma and later became a leader in intercollegiate athletics.
This fall, the university will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Gautt’s arrival in 1956 as the first black athlete at Oklahoma. Gautt, who died March 17 in Lawrence after a brief illness, led the Sooners in rushing in 1958 and 1959 and changed the culture of sports in Oklahoma.
“Dr. Prentice Gautt is probably one of the most inspiring and important leaders in University of Oklahoma history,” said Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione. “Everything he experienced, the wonderful achievements, he did with such humility, with such dignity, with such grace.”
Oklahoma had begun admitting black students on a nonsegregated basis in 1950, and final restrictions on undergraduate enrollment were lifted for the 1955-56 academic year. A group of black Oklahoma City professionals raised the funds for Gautt to enroll at Oklahoma, and he played on the Sooners’ freshman team before receiving a scholarship from coach Bud Wilkinson.
“It was a notable change for this area of the country,” Castiglione said. “It took quite a few other schools a long time before they thought about offering an African-American an athletic scholarship.”
By the time Gautt graduated, he was a fan favorite, a two-time All-Big Seven running back, an academic All-American and MVP of Oklahoma’s 21-6 win over Syracuse in the 1959 Orange Bowl. After Gautt spent 1960-67 in the NFL with Cleveland and St. Louis, he embarked on a career in higher education.
In the spring of 2005, Gautt received an honorary doctorate degree from Oklahoma.
“When I think about any of the accomplishments for the initiatives in diversity that have been put in place here, I think back to Prentice Gautt, the person who really helped more than just the University of Oklahoma,” Castiglione said.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/colleges/big_12_conference/14741257.htm
Posted on Mon, Jun. 05, 2006
Oklahoma hasn’t forgotten Gautt’s legacy
By RANDY COVITZ
The Kansas City Star
1957 PHOTO
Prentice Gautt
NORMAN, Okla. | - NORMAN, Okla. | The enlarged photograph of freshman Prentice Gautt, smiling from behind a stack of a dozen textbooks, greets student-athletes entering the Prentice Gautt Academic Center in the north end of Memorial Stadium.
The same black-and-white photo also adorns the foyer of Evans Hall — the school’s main administration building — as well as a main hallway in the Oklahoma Memorial Union. In all, his picture hangs in at least a half-dozen buildings on campus.
Gautt, more than anyone else, symbolizes the University of Oklahoma’s commitment to diversity, and the ubiquitous photos all over campus honor the man who broke the color barrier at Oklahoma and later became a leader in intercollegiate athletics.
This fall, the university will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Gautt’s arrival in 1956 as the first black athlete at Oklahoma. Gautt, who died March 17 in Lawrence after a brief illness, led the Sooners in rushing in 1958 and 1959 and changed the culture of sports in Oklahoma.
“Dr. Prentice Gautt is probably one of the most inspiring and important leaders in University of Oklahoma history,” said Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione. “Everything he experienced, the wonderful achievements, he did with such humility, with such dignity, with such grace.”
Oklahoma had begun admitting black students on a nonsegregated basis in 1950, and final restrictions on undergraduate enrollment were lifted for the 1955-56 academic year. A group of black Oklahoma City professionals raised the funds for Gautt to enroll at Oklahoma, and he played on the Sooners’ freshman team before receiving a scholarship from coach Bud Wilkinson.
“It was a notable change for this area of the country,” Castiglione said. “It took quite a few other schools a long time before they thought about offering an African-American an athletic scholarship.”
By the time Gautt graduated, he was a fan favorite, a two-time All-Big Seven running back, an academic All-American and MVP of Oklahoma’s 21-6 win over Syracuse in the 1959 Orange Bowl. After Gautt spent 1960-67 in the NFL with Cleveland and St. Louis, he embarked on a career in higher education.
In the spring of 2005, Gautt received an honorary doctorate degree from Oklahoma.
“When I think about any of the accomplishments for the initiatives in diversity that have been put in place here, I think back to Prentice Gautt, the person who really helped more than just the University of Oklahoma,” Castiglione said.