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Show UTAH HISTORICAL QUARTERLY my opinion,” he continued, “that the Negro in Utah has better treatment, more acceptability, and greater educational opportunity than he finds outside the states represented in the Western Athletic Conference.”95 After Wyoming, BYU played UTEP on October 25. Minor protests occurred outside the stadium; five participants were arrested for fighting. Arizona at BYU followed on November 1, but without incident.96 When San Jose State arrived at BYU for November 8’s game, members of the team and coaching staff wore black armbands. (Players had worn armbands in Laramie the week before, but in solidarity.) “BYU, being sponsored by the Mormon institution,” San Jose’s players explained, “must realize that this sponsorship makes it the benefactor and somewhat the perpetrator of attitudes which will lead men into an eternal world of inharmonious relationships.” San Jose’s president called the action “commendable,” adding, “For young men to choose this form of protest to display their conscientious objections to a moral question is within the tradition of a free society.”97 As a “joke,” some 200 BYU fans donned red armbands.98 The next week, Stanford University shocked intercollegiate athletics by declaring that it would schedule no new athletic or other events with BYU because of the church’s practice of discrimination.99 BYU officials scrambled to respond. The previous November 5, while Wilkinson was out of town, the trustees had debated recruiting—and the discussions were “spirited.”100 While still not encouraging the recruiting of blacks (though not barring them from admission), trustees were becoming increasingly convinced that only a new statement explaining the church’s position might quell the protests and provide BYU with a more definitive response. Stanford’s surprise decision reinforced the need for a response. Wilkinson accused Stanford of bigotry while also encouraging supporters to call for the ouster of school president Kenneth S. Pitzer. 101 When Wilkinson met with the presidents of the WAC in late November, he found that most “did not think that the BYU intended to do anything substantial . . . with respect to recruiting Negro athletes.”102 Summarizing 95 Leonard G. Rhoda, “The Life and Professional Contributions of Milton F. Hartvigsen” (EdD diss., Brigham Young University, 1979), 112–14. 96 “Why Blacks Protested, and How Cougars Reacted,” Salt Lake Tribune, November 30, 1969. 97 “Watts Cookin’,” Provo Daily Herald, November 9, 1969. 98 “Trouble in Happy Valley,” Newsweek, December 1, 1969, 103. 99 “Stanford to End All Competition with BYU,” Salt Lake Tribune, November 13, 1969; see also “Stanford Apologizes in Y. Incident,” Salt Lake Tribune, December 10, 1969; “Stanford Policy Explained,” Daily Universe, December 17, 1969; “Stanford Discusses BYU Situation,” Provo Daily Herald, January 14, 1970. 100 Board of Trustees, Minutes, November 5, 1969; L. Brent Goates, Harold B. Lee: Prophet and Seer (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1985), 379. 101 “Wilkinson Airs Race Policy,” Daily Universe, November 26, 1969; Special Issue, BYU Today, December 1969, copy, Perry Special Collections; “Wilkinson Claims Stanford Failed to Check Facts,” Salt Lake Tribune, December 23, 1969, cf. “Paper Flays Stanford’s BYU Policy,” Salt Lake Tribune, December 27, 196. 102 Wilkinson, Diary, November 30, 1969. 220 |
