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SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—JANUARY. 1964—PAGE 13
MISSOURI
progress Reported in Experimental College Program
ST. LOUIS
4 progress report for 1962-63
indicated that the Kansas City
Special Scholarship Program, ini
tiated in February, 1962, has made
a n effective start on its objective
0 f increasing college attendance
“among students from economic
ally. culturally and educationally
marginal segments of the popula
tion.” The program was the sub
ject of a Ford Foundation con
ference at Kansas City in Novem
ber.
The experimental Kansas City pro
gram, administered by the Public
School District of Kansas City and fi
nanced by a combination of private
foundations, is designed to deal with
high-school graduates who show po
tential for college, and for whom col
lege “represents a severe economic and
social obstacle.”
Director of the program is Robert R.
Wheeler, a Negro. The population of
Kansas City’s public schools was last
estimated at about 34 per cent Negro.
Of students who were assisted by the
program in the first year of operation,
57 per cent were Negro. There were 70
special scholarship students in 1962-63,
and of these the largest groups—13 and
15, respectively—came from two pre-
, dominantly Negro public high schools,
Lincoln and Central.
The scholarship program was started
with a grant of $480,000, affording ap
proximately $30,000 a year for four
school-year periods for each of four
high-school graduating classes—1962,
1963, 1964 and 1965. The original grant
was composed of equal appropriations
from three private foundation sources.
Three Sources
The three sources were the Kansas
City Association of Trusts and Foun
dations; the Ford Foundation, through
a grant to the association, and the Ralph
L. Smith Foundation in Kansas City.
Commitments for students from each
high-school class extend through a
four-year college period.
“The Kansas City Special Scholarship
Program,” the report said, “may be
viewed as one of
a number of re
cent efforts to in
crease education
al and other so
cial mobility op
portunities for
young people
from lower in
come groups, es
pecially Negroes,
hi addition to the
special scholar
ship program, the wheeler
Kansas City School District has, for
example, undertaken a work-study
Project designed to decrease the high
school dropout rate, to increase the
effectiveness of technological training,
and to facilitate immediate occupation-
a Placements of students out of high
school.
There are also a number of projects
Signed to increase the social and
Psychological knowledgeability of
chers and other school personnel
to provide mental health and social
or k services for school children. Like
^y others, the Kansas City School
nc t is in process of reorienting and
"ith 8311 ^^ 1 ® t° deal more effectively
stion° W ~* nCOrne se S ments °f the popu-
the'fi t ^ l ° ^udents who participated in
p ort ^^ t i’ e ar of the program, it was re-
pl j.’ percent successfully com-
sjjj first year of college. This was
he somewhat higher than the
in u.„ rate °f most college students
first year.
an e fregram helps the student choose
touch PPr ° Priate c °ll e S e . and gets in
*-«h the college about possible
^oum su PP°rt f°r the student. The
Schoj i°^ Kansas City Special
irn °Unt * P varies, but the average
S4lo Tu , gran ted in the first year was
year Is dropped to $320 the second
cre aseH WaS re P°rted, because of in-
frotp SUc cess in obtaining support
Of ? j® es an d universities,
first v Uc on *~ s ' n the program in the
"ere f ar ’ ^^62-63, more than a third
fathers r< r^ ? 10mes without employed
fifgh-spi. yPfoally, the mother was a
1101 finisL°j gra d ua te and the father had
Pfcomo h'gb school. Median family
0f 4 Was $4750.
and Un . s u dents who attended colleges
*1162-63 ® rs *fi es under the program in
ColW' ' ' ven t to Kansas City Junior
^~Neg r a j attended the formerly
^Ported . in< r°' n University, a state-
fnstitution at Jefferson City.
Homer C. Wadsworth, president of
the Kansas City Board of Education,
also is executive director of the Kansas
City Association of Trusts and Founda
tions.
Under Survey
Negro Enrollment
Doubles in State’s
Private Colleges
Negro enrollment at Missouri’s pri
vate universities and colleges has ap
proximately doubled in the period from
1955 to the present, a survey by SSN
and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch indi
cated.
Without exception, responding insti
tutions said they were open to qualified
students without regard to race. While
many colleges in small towns now have
Negro students, none outside the
metropolitan areas reported Negro
faculty members.
Information concerning some 27
public and private institutions of
higher education in Missouri was given
in the November and December, 1963,
issues of SSN. The current issue
reflects the responses of 16 additional
private institutions in the state. In
many cases, institutions said they
could not give precise data because
they keep no records as to race of
students.
Washington University in St. Louis
desegregated its undergraduate divi
sions in 1952, the graduate divisions
having taken such action, on an indi
vidual basis, in previous years. The
institution does not discriminate as to
race, but has grown steadily more
selective in recent years in its admis
sions policies and has raised its tuition
charges to levels comparable to those
of major private eastern universities.
Administrative officials at Washing
ton University said that inasmuch as
no records were kept on race they
could not estimate how many Negroes
were enrolled in 1955, or how many
are enrolled now.
Unofficial Estimate
The best estimate that could be
obtained unofficially was that Washing
ton University now has 100 to 200
Negro students on a full-time basis,
with a number of others enrolled in
the University College or extension
division. If this is the case, it represents
a considerable increase over 1955. There
are believed to be about 18 Negroes on
the faculty, in various departments
including the School of Medicine.
In declaring his inability to estimate
the number of Negro undergraduates,
an official said: “I do know that year
before last, a Negro boy was captain of
the basketball team; another Negro
boy is the main hope of this winter’s
basketball team; there are three Ne
groes on the football squad; the secre
tary of the student government last
year was a Negro girl who is now one
of the graduate residents in the dormi
tories.”
Washington University has a total
full-time student population of about
6,475, including 3,580 undergraduates.
St. Louis University, with a total
full-time enrollment of about 6,200,
has been desegregated since 1946, when
it admitted its first Negro student. It
hired its first Negro faculty member in
1938. In 1955, the institution had a total
full-time enrollment of 5,673 including
238 Negro students. By autumn, the
number of Negro students had in
creased to 301.
There were eight Negroes in a total
faculty of 1,100 in 1955. Last autumn
the faculty had increased to 1,350 and
the number of Negroes to about 20, it
was reported.
“It is important to note,” a spokes
man said, “that St. Louis University’s
enrollment policy has been a com
pletely open one for 17 years; this is
significant because we were doing a
practical integration program long be
fore the present crises arose.”
Other Institutions
Information obtained from other pri
vate institutions in Missouri may be
summarized as follows:
Tarkio College, Tarkio—Tarkio Col
lege has been desegregated for three
or four years, a spokesman said. In
autumn, 1955, the college had 236 stu
dents and 26 facility members, with no
Negroes in either category. Last au
tumn, it had 633 students, including
about 10 Negroes, and a faculty of 30
full-time, all white.
Missouri Highlights
A favorable progress report has
been made on the Kansas City Spe
cial Scholarship Program, set up
“to increase college attendance
among students from economically,
culturally, and educationally mar
ginal segments of the population.”
In outstate Missouri as well as in
the major metropolitan areas of St.
Louis and Kansas City, private insti
tutions of higher education have en
rolled an increasing number of Ne
gro students in the last eight years.
Washington University in St. Louis,
a private independent institution, has
notified all university-sponsored or
ganizations that they must drop dis
criminatory membership restrictions.
The spokesman said the college
makes no distinction as to race in as
signing rooms. It has three Negro stu
dents from Africa. The college’s board
of trustees has said that it would hire
Negro faculty members if they quali
fied. Last year, SSN was told, Tarkio
offered a job to a Negro who held a
doctorate in mathematics. He did not
take the post, however.
Lindenwood College, St. Charles—
Lindenwood College for women has
been desegregated since 1947 and ad
mitted its first Negro student in 1962.
At present it has no Negro students.
Total full-time enrollment has grown
from 366 in 1955 to 550 in 1963, total
faculty from 45 to 55 in the same
period. The faculty has no Negro mem
bers. A spokesman said the college does
not discriminate as to race, either in
admitting students or in hiring teachers.
Rockhurst College, Kansas City—
Rockhurst College said it was open to
qualified students regardless of race
but did not indicate how long its
desegregation policy had been in effect.
In 1955, Rockhurst had nine Negro
students in total full-time enrollment
of 591; in 1963, it had 15 Negro students
in a total enrollment of 726. The faculty
which has no Negroes, grew from 40
to 65 in the period.
Park College, Parkville—Park Col
lege has been desegregated since 1950,
when it admitted its first Negro stu
dent. It hired its first Negro faculty
member in 1957. In 1955, the college
had nine Negroes in a total enrollment
of 350; last autumn it had seven Ne
groes in a total enrollment of 540.
There were 33 faculty members, all
white, in 1955, and 36, including one
Negro full-time, in autumn 1963.
A Park College spokesman made the
following comment: “We do not keep
records by races, so I had to rely upon
pictures in the student annual for 1955,
and they could be incomplete. Same
with faculty. For this year, I had to
rely upon my memory of students,
since the annual obviously is not yet
printed, and I may well have missed
someone.
“We tend not to think of them as
Negroes or whites, but as people, and
one forgets which persons are Negro.
The numbers fluctuate. Last year, for
example, as I recall it, we had 15 Ne
gro students, some of whom were
foreign students from Africa who did
not intend to graduate, but were
learning English in our English
Language Institute here. We have al
ways had a number of students from
all over the world. Of the approxi
mately seven (Negroes) shown this
year, only two are from overseas.”
Hannibal-LaGrange College, Han
nibal—Hannibal-LaGrange College has
been desegregated since 1955, having
admitted its first Negro student that
year. It apparently has had no Negro
faculty. In 1955, there were two Ne
groes in a student population of 279;
in autumn, 1963, there were nine in a
total enrollment of 409. Total faculty
increased from 24 to 26 in the period.
Maryville College of the Sacred
Heart, St. Louis County— Maryville
College admitted its first Negro student
in about 1939. In response to a question
as to how long its desegregation policy
had been in effect, a college spokesman
said “This is not a matter of policy but
of principle.”
In 1955, Maryville had two Negro
students in a total enrollment of 314;
and in autumn, 1963, it had one Negro
in a total enrollment of 325. The spokes
man was not certain when the first
Negro faculty-member joined the staff.
The following comment was made:
“Very few Negroes have applied for
our student body or for our faculty.
Those qualified on either level are most
welcome.”
National College, Kansas City—
National College reported it had been
desegregated in policy since 1899 and
admitted its first Negro student in 1939.
It hired its first Negro faculty-member
in 1956. In 1955, the college had a total
enrollment of 84 students, and ap
parently no Negroes; in autumn, 1963, it
had 188 students including 21 Negroes.
The faculty increased from 13 to 21
in the period, and now has one Negro
member.
Cottey College, Nevada—This two-
year independent institution for women
has been desegregated since 1958. In
1962-63, it was reported to have 374
students. A spokesman commented:
“Cottey College has yet to receive its
first application for admission from an
American Negro.”
St. Paul’s College, Concordia—This
two-year college under Lutheran
auspices reported that it had never
practiced segregation. It admitted its
first Negro student in 1952. Before that,
Hone had applied. In autumn, 1955, the
college had 170 students including two
Negroes; in autumn, 1963, it had 281
students including four Negroes. It has
no Negro faculty members.
Evangel College, Springfield —
Evangel College, under Assembly of
God auspices, was founded in 1955 and
has been desegregated in policy from
the start. It admitted its first Negro
student in 1957. There were 90 students
in autumn, 1955, with no Negroes, and
a total of 600 students, including one
Negro, last autumn. Total faculty grew
from eight to 57 in the period. The
faculty has no Negroes.
“No one has ever been denied ad
mission to Evangel on the grounds of
race,” a spokesman said. “Neither has
any prospective faculty member been
rejected on this ground. However, few
Negroes have applied as students, and
to our knowledge no Negro teacher has
ever applied for employment.”
Covenant College, St. Louis County—
This Evangelical Presbyterian liberal
arts college, founded in 1955, recently
announced that it will move to a new
campus on Lookout Mountain near
Chattanooga, Tenn. It had 25 students
in 1955 and 203 last autumn. The col
lege has never had a policy of segrega
tion, a spokesman said, but it has no
Negro students “bacause none has ap
plied who was qualified academically.”
There are now 25 faculty members,
including no Negroes.
“We do not have and never have had
any policy which excludes anyone
because of race,” a Covenant College
spokesman said.
Southwest Baptist College, Bolivar—
This two-year institution under South
ern Baptist auspices reported that it
had been desegregated officially for 10
or 15 years and admitted its first
American Negro in 1962. As of last
autumn, Southwest Baptist had 499
students including five Negroes, and an
all-white faculty of 35 persons. A
spokesman added:
“We have had colored foreign stu
dents for several years. No Negroes
live in this community and Negro stu
dents have been slow to enroll here,
the college would like to encourage
more Negroes to attend here.”
Avila College, Kansas City—This
Roman Catholic college for women,
founded in 1916 as the College of St.
Teresa, undertook a development pro
gram in 1961. It has been officially
desegregated since it became a four-
In the Colleges
Washington University, one of the
two major institutions of higher educa
tion in the St. Louis area, notified all
university-sponsored organizations in
December that they must drop dis
criminatory membership restrictions.
The action was made public Dec. 22.
Chancellor Thomas H. Eliot said it
was not appropriate for the university
to sponsor or recognize student
groups that re
strict membership
by discriminatory
clauses. The uni
versity, he said,
is committed “to
the principle of
equal opportunity
regardless of race
creed or color.”
Chanc ellor
Eliot directed the
14-member Board
of Student Affairs
year institution in 1940. A spokesman
reported that the college had always
been open to Negro students, but the
first year that statistics were kept on
Negro enrollment was 1953. It employed
its first Negro full-time faculty mem
ber in 1962-63.
There were no figures for Negro
enrollment in 1955, but in autumn, 1963,
the college had 277 students including
20 Negroes, and a total faculty of 54
including four Negroes. The college
has a Negro student from Atlanta, a
nonCatholic, among its 27 dormitory
residents. She is reported to have made
a good adjustment and is said to have
been well accepted by other residents.
“Our Negro faculty is outstanding for
its scholarship,” a college spokesman
said. “Three have their doctoral de
grees; one has his master’s. The caliber
of the teaching done by our Negro
faculty is excellent. Their interest in
students, their progressive attitude
toward instructional improvement, and
their contributions to faculty commit
tees are among the attributes which
make them definite assets to the col
lege.”
Calvary Bible College, Kansas City—
This independent college said it had
been desegregated since 1932—the year
it was established—and admitted its
first Negro student at least as early
as 1946. In autumn, 1955, there were
eight Negroes in a total full-time en
rollment of 175; last autumn, there
were two Negroes in a total enrollment
of 205. The faculty, all white, has in
creased from 12 to 18 in the period. A
spokesman said:
“Negro denominations have shown
little interest in our college although
we have had a wide-open policy since
the founding of the college in 1932.
Our ads, announcements and releases
as well as other publicity are never
slanted to white Christians only.”
Notre Dame College, St. Louis—This
Roman Catholic institution, which is a
sister-formation college for School
Sisters of Notre Dame only, reported
that it had always had an official policy
of desegregation. The first Negro stu
dent, a postulant, was admitted in 1950.
There is no Negro sister on the Notre
Dame College faculty, but the order has
four Negro sisters on the faculty at
four schools which it staffs. In 1962-63,
the college was reported to have an
enrollment of 393.
“We have four Negro sisters,” a
spokesman said, “and . . . these sisters
are doing very fine work in four of our
schools.”
Immaculate Conception Seminary,
Conception—This Roman Catholic insti
tution, which prepares young men for
the priesthood, has been desegregated
since it was founded in 1873. It said it
had no record of when the first Negro
student was admitted. In autumn, 1963,
there were four Negroes in a student
population of 380. A spokesman com
mented:
“The small percentage of Negroes
represents the small percentage of Ne
groes who are Roman Catholics. Race
has never been a criterion in the ac
ceptance of students.”
In the February issue of SSN, the
survey of higher education in Missouri
will conclude with information on
other private colleges, colleges of os
teopathy, art and music institutes, and
technical and other specialized insti
tutions.
to draw up a resolution ordering 144
student organizations to comply with
the policy. The board was expected to
meet shortly after the Christmas holi
day vacation.
Dean of Students Amo Haack, chair
man of the Board of Student Affairs,
said he knew of only three fraternities
that would be affected because of re
strictive clauses in their national con
stitutions. He said that if a group
failed to comply with the prospective
resolution, it would lose university
recognition and be forced to become
inactive on the campus.
Washington University is an inde
pendent private university. It has 3,580
undergraduates, 1,662 graduate stu
dents, 1,223 students in professional
fields such as medicine, law, dentistry
and nursing, and 7,559 in its university
college, or extension division. It is
estimated to have between 100 and 200
Negro students.
Washington University Orders
Groups To End Rules on Race