Letter from Austin E. Grigg to E. Bruce Heilman

Letter from Austin E. Grigg to E. Bruce Heilman

This letter written on March 24, 1972 is a report from Dean Austin E. Grigg to President Heilman about the Southern Regional Educational Board Conference on Minority Students at Historically White Campuses that he attended on March 23-24, 1972. He notes topics of discussion at the conference such as the "white-washed" curriculum at schools and the difficulty in recruiting black faculty as larger universities found it easier to recruit black faculty in graduate programs. Griggs states that large numbers of black students who attend a "formerly all white campus become protest agents" as they have "a continuous struggle to inhibit their feelings of hostility." He goes on to state that most campuses have formally-organized black student groups. During this time, the only organization for black students at the University of Richmond was the Student Organization for Black Awareness (SOBA). Griggs concludes the letter by stating that he was "impressed that we have the smallest number of black students of most of the schools that participated in the conference," and that the consensus of most schools was that black staff members and recruiters were necessary to recruit black students.

Letter from Dean Austin E. Grigg to President E. Bruce Heilman, 24 March 1972, RG 6.2.5 Box 23 "College Students (Black)", University Archives, Virginia Baptist Historical Society.

1972-03-24

English

UA6.2.5.23-19720324.JPG

Richmond (Va.)