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Show UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Cougar basketballers carry Stan Watts after a championship win, HAROLD B. LEE SPECAL COLLECTIONS Madison Square Garden, 1966. in the mouth.”18 BYU’s student newspaper reported that “fans and students from both sides poured onto the floor and the battle raged.”19 Wilkinson and USU President Dar yl Chase, together with BYU and USU coaches, met until 11:30 p.m. that evening. “Because the BYU is still the only white team in Utah,” Wilkinson wrote, “we are immediately accused of being anticolored. Indeed, one of the prof[essor]s of USU . . . said it was too bad that we had to draw the color line.” Wilkinson thought the schools should sever relations but that “public relations would forbid this.”20 Instead, Chase and Wilkinson issued a public statement reading, in part: “Our investigation has already disclosed, contrary to persistent reports, that it was not triggered by any racial animosity on the part of the players, but was a case of individual controversy between certain players.”21 Haney sat out the rest of the season; Eastis graduated a few months later; Wilson was not permitted to play again against USU.22 In early 1963, LDS church president David O. McKay approved the awarding of a BYU scholarship to a student from Nigeria.23 The move reflected the church’s decision to open an exploratory mission in West Africa. Soon a formal scholarship subsidized the enrollment of Nigerians. Two years later, however, after two Nigerians had received scholarships, Harold B. Lee “vigorously” protested during a trustees’ meeting to “giv[ing] 18 Wilkinson, Diary, February 11, 1961. “It ‘Had to Happen,’” Daily Universe, February 13, 1961. 20 Wilkinson, Diary, February 11, 1961. 21 “Wilkinson, Chase Issue Statement, Seek Causes,” Daily Universe, February 13, 1961. 22 “Too Much Secrecy in ‘Trade’ Farce,” Daily Universe, February 8, 1962; Darnel Haney, interview by Brad Cole and Bob Parsons, July 31, 2006, accessed Februar y 11, 2013, http://129.123.124.192/cdm/ref/collection/minority/id/233. 23 Board of Trustees, Minutes, March 6, 1963; Executive Committee, Board of Trustees, Minutes, March 14, 1963. 19 208 |
