Reviewed by: Michael Seale
University of North Alabama integration story featured in TIME
Reading time: 3 minutes
TIME recently published an article about the University of North Alabama’s integration, a story that makes many on campus proud of its institutional history. As if that’s not newsworthy enough, the story was written by UNA department of history chair Ansley Quiros.
UNA, located in Florence, is known for its award winning nursing school, flexible MBA options and having a live lion on their campus, but the former teachers college also treasures a piece of its Civil Rights History.
The University of North Alabama’s integration story
Wendell Wilkie Gunn, a Black man and Shoals area native, integrated the University of North Alabama (at the time, Florence State University) on Sept. 11, 1963. At the time Gunn applied to school, university President E.B. Norton informed Gunn that he filed a federal lawsuit the university might have to consider his application.
Civil Rights attorney Fred Gray, who was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom this year, took the case and won. Norton ensured Gunn’s safety at school so he had the opportunity to excel academically.
When Gunn’s first year ended, he won the university’s physics achievement award. Though no one had talked to him all year, they applauded him when he stood to accept the award. Gunn started to cry, and his classmates gave him a standing ovation. He recalls they stood and cheered for him for ten minutes.
About Wendell Wilkie Gunn
Gunn gradated with a chemistry degree and eventually earned his MBA from the University of Chicago. He worked at Chase Manhattan Bank, PepsiCo and went on to be a special adviser to President Ronald Regan.
UNA invited him to join the Board of Trustees in 2018, and he accepted.
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