2008 Woodie Awards
Track and field team sets tone at MT
Dwayne Douglas
Issue date: 2/14/08 Section: Sports
At the end of 1964, many colleges in the South had already started to integrate. African Americans were not only attending these colleges, but were competing in athletics as well.
However, Middle Tennessee State College was a school that had not made that transition within its athletics department. If not the last, MT was one of the final schools in the OVC to have an African American representing the school in athletic competition.
During the spring of 1965, MT finally joined the other schools, as Robert Mallard became MT's first African American athlete. He was a local talent from Holloway High School. At MT, Mallard was a member of the track team who competed in the 100-yard dash and the 440 relay.
Mallard's stay at the university was a short one. He returned in the fall, but left during the semester for the Army.
Jerome Singleton, the next African American to attend MT, became the first African American to receive a sports scholarship from the university.
Dean Hayes, the school's newly hired track coach, recruited Singleton to MT. Hayes was from Chicago, and he knew of Singleton, who competed at a nearby school.
Coming from the North, Singleton was not aware of the conditions the south was still facing with racial issues. "I was oblivious to it all," Singleton said. He visited the school and said, "I saw blacks, but it didn't register to me that they were just janitors."
"Hayes presented it [the opportunity to attend MT] as I'm giving you a scholarship for college," Singleton said. He now admits that if it was presented any other way, he is not sure he would have come. Hayes knows the recruitment of Singleton is history, but he wasn't viewing it that way when he offered Singleton the scholarship. "I wanted to make a team and he wanted to go to school," Hayes said.
After arriving at MT, Singleton obviously ran into a few encounters that he didn't have to worry about in Chicago. "One individual spit in my sandwich while I was away. But even that was not all that bad," says Singleton. He did not eat the sandwich as one of his white friends advised him of what happened.
However, Middle Tennessee State College was a school that had not made that transition within its athletics department. If not the last, MT was one of the final schools in the OVC to have an African American representing the school in athletic competition.
During the spring of 1965, MT finally joined the other schools, as Robert Mallard became MT's first African American athlete. He was a local talent from Holloway High School. At MT, Mallard was a member of the track team who competed in the 100-yard dash and the 440 relay.
Mallard's stay at the university was a short one. He returned in the fall, but left during the semester for the Army.
Jerome Singleton, the next African American to attend MT, became the first African American to receive a sports scholarship from the university.
Dean Hayes, the school's newly hired track coach, recruited Singleton to MT. Hayes was from Chicago, and he knew of Singleton, who competed at a nearby school.
Coming from the North, Singleton was not aware of the conditions the south was still facing with racial issues. "I was oblivious to it all," Singleton said. He visited the school and said, "I saw blacks, but it didn't register to me that they were just janitors."
"Hayes presented it [the opportunity to attend MT] as I'm giving you a scholarship for college," Singleton said. He now admits that if it was presented any other way, he is not sure he would have come. Hayes knows the recruitment of Singleton is history, but he wasn't viewing it that way when he offered Singleton the scholarship. "I wanted to make a team and he wanted to go to school," Hayes said.
After arriving at MT, Singleton obviously ran into a few encounters that he didn't have to worry about in Chicago. "One individual spit in my sandwich while I was away. But even that was not all that bad," says Singleton. He did not eat the sandwich as one of his white friends advised him of what happened.
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