Ex-players' pledge to help OU showcase black history
Ex-players' pledge to help OU showcase black history

NORMAN — Former University of Oklahoma football players Joe Washington and J.C. Watts plan to donate $10,000 to a campus project aimed to bring sharper focus to OU's black history.

Norris Williams, director of the Henderson Scholars Program, said about $100,000 will be needed for renovations, plaques, portraits, lighting and secure cases at the Henderson-Tolson Cultural Center.

Washington, who works in OU's athletic department, and Watts, a former U.S. congressman, toured the center Thursday morning before announcing the donation.

"I've got a check on behalf of Joe and me,” Watts said, "and with it we'd like to have the (center's) conference room named after Prentice Gautt.”

Gautt became the university's first black football player in 1956. After a few years in pro football, he earned a doctorate and became an associate commissioner of the Big Eight and Big 12 conferences before his death in 2005.

Organizers for the Henderson-Tolson project also seek pictures and other memorabilia from alumni and teachers of their OU experiences to display throughout the center.

"We're trying to make the building a showcase of African-American students, faculty and staff,” Williams said. "There are pictures in the building that reflect that, but we're trying to enhance that a bit more.

"Not just the Ada Lois Sipuels and Prentice Gautts, but many others. We want to display that legacy through students, teachers and alumni.”

After three years of legal battles, Sipuel was the first black student to be admitted to the OU College of Law.

The building houses the Black Student Association and black fraternity and sorority offices, but student organizations reflecting all races often use it for gatherings free of charge.

Williams said the project will happen in phases. He expects the first one, involving plaques and numerous photos, will be completed in time for the OU black all-class reunion April 25-27.

For future phases, Williams enlisted the help of OU interior decorating students who made a project of designing rooms, floor plans, lighting and murals for the center.

Williams said he and other organizers will seek student input on design ideas before any decisions are made, and then make them happen as the money comes in.

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