Furman Remembers Its Trailblazer
The activities of Black History Month typically highlight the
achievements of prominent national figures such as Rosa Parks and Martin
Luther King Jr. Greenville, however, has plenty of its own local heroes
to remember, ordinary yet courageous people who have done extraordinary
things.
Few Furman students, for example, have had as dramatic
an impact on the university as did Joseph Vaughn, the first African
American to enroll. Vaughn and his brother grew up in a single-parent
household in an impoverished neighborhood in west Greenville. At
Sterling, the city’s all-black high school, Joe was a natural leader and
superb student. His energy and enthusiasm were infectious. He spoke
fluent French, presided over the student body, and displayed a
cosmopolitan outlook that left fellow students with the impression that
he had studied abroad.
“Joe was an avid reader,” recalls
Greenville mayor pro-tem Lillian Brock Flemming, “and the books he read
took him places that his upbringing could not.” One of those unexpected
places was Furman.
Dr. Francis Bonner, Furman’s vice president
and dean, helped pave the way for Vaughn to enroll at the university. In
1961-62 the Furman faculty and student body had voted in favor of
integration, and Dr. Bonner had presented the results to the board of
trustees, to no avail. In 1963, on the heels of a federal court order
requiring Clemson to admit blacks, the Furman faculty again voted to end
the “custom of excluding Negroes.” This time the trustees agreed in
principle but established no timetable for admitting African Americans.
In
1964 Dr. Bonner, now serving as interim president, again urged the
board of trustees to adopt a race-blind admissions policy. He found a
new ally in Dr. Gordon Blackwell, the president of Florida State
University. In the spring of 1964 Blackwell was asked to become Furman’s
new president. He agreed to do so only if the university embraced
integration. His request was granted. The trustees approved the
recruitment of African-American students, and Joe Vaughn was the first
student accepted.
But many members of the South Carolina Baptist
Convention, which then governed Furman, steadfastly opposed the
admission of blacks. A confrontation seemed unavoidable. In May 1964,
four months before Joe Vaughn was scheduled to enroll, Wilbert Wood,
chair of Furman’s trustees, convinced the executive committee of the
Baptist Convention to support the new race-blind policy. The committee
decided, however, that Furman could not implement the change until after
the convention’s annual meeting in November.
The delay meant
that Joe Vaughn could not enroll for the fall term, so Dr. Bonner
arranged for him to take classes at Johnson C. Smith, an all-black
university in Charlotte. Then a crisis erupted. At the Baptist
Convention’s meeting in November, the delegates defied the executive
committee’s recommendation and voted down Furman’s new policy. A
crestfallen Dr. Blackwell stressed to trustees that the convention’s
decision would do “irreparable harm” to Furman and the cause of civil
rights.
In the face of the Convention’s action, the board of
trustees, all of whom were then Baptists elected by the Convention,
called a special meeting on December 8. It was a tense moment. Dr.
Blackwell reminded the group that his decision to become Furman’s new
president hinged on their actions. Dr. Bonner then implored the trustees
to defy the Convention’s segregationist stance: “Don’t let us down!”
His impassioned appeal won the day. On February 2, 1965, four
African-Americans enrolled at Furman. Three were graduate students in
education; the other was freshman Joe Vaughn.
Vaughn proved to
be a model student. An English major, he excelled in class, served as
head cheerleader, coordinated important campus forums, and volunteered
in the Service Corps. Witty and outgoing, he made friends quickly and
easily. His smile was like a beam of sunlight; it radiated warmth and
joy.
In 1985, at an event marking the 20th anniversary of
integration at Furman, Vaughn reflected on his experience: “It was the
marriage made in heaven. I was good for Furman University and vice
versa. Without Furman, I might have been just another underprivileged
black kid going nowhere.” To be sure, there were risks involved in being
a pathfinder. “Luckily,” he recalled, there were no ugly incidents;
“there was not even any mental violence.”
After graduating from
Furman, Vaughn went on to earn master’s degrees from the University of
South Carolina and the University of Georgia. From 1969 to 1982 he
taught in the Greenville County schools, and in 1981 he was elected
president of the South Carolina Education Association, a position he
held for almost a decade. He died in 1991, having contracted inoperable
cancer.
Vaughn’s family and friends have established a
scholarship at Furman in his name. It is awarded each year to a student
who demonstrates financial need, exemplifies high moral character and
shows academic promise. It is as much a tribute to the determination of
President Blackwell and Dean Bonner as it is to Joe Vaughn. As Vaughn
said at the anniversary banquet, “Thanks to all who believed in what was
right, and to those who did what was right."