University of Louisiana at Lafayette 50th Anniversary of Desegregation

University of Louisiana at Lafayette 50th Anniversary of Desegregation. . , This marker commemorates the 50th anniversary of the desegregation of Southwestern Louisiana Institute and the 50th anniversary of Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the landmark Supreme Court case that ultimately resulted in the desegregation of public schools. While the doors of the campus were legally open to African American students in 1954, it took several years before all aspects of the campus and university community desegregated. Since that time, African Americans and other people of color have come to play significant roles in the evolution of the University., This memorial pays homage to SLI's first African American students and acknowledges the countless men and women - on campus and in the community - who, in their own way, contributed to the Civil Rights Movement., This marker was erected in conjunction with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette's presentation of honorary degrees on December 18, 2004 to Clara Dell Constantine Broussard, Martha Jane Conway-Bosset, Charles Vincent Singleton and Shirley Taylor Gresham - Four Who Would change Southwestern forever and would bravely blaze a path for others to follow.