BYU president Ernest L. Wilkinson told BYU football leaders that he would not discriminate against two Black Latter-day Saint applicants, but also would not want to actively recruit them.

Date
Dec 22, 1965
Type
Personal Journal / Diary
Source
Ernest L. Wilkinson
LDS
Hearsay
Direct
Reference

Ernest L. Wilkinson, Personal Diaries, December 22, 1965, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, UA 1000, Box 101, Folder 6

Scribe/Publisher
Ernest L. Wilkinson
People
Tommy Hudspeth, Milton F. Hartvigsen, Floyd Millet, Ernest L. Wilkinson
Audience
Unknown
Transcription

Wednesday, December 22, 1965

During the day I had several conferences, one with Dean Hartvigsen Director Millet and Coach Hudspeth with respect to the attitude we should take toward two colored boys on the West Coast who are Mormons and who we could probably recruit as football players. I made it plain that if they made application and wanted to come, we certainly would not discriminate against them, and would wholeheartedly accept them, provided their academic training justified it. However, in their interest, we felt that since there is no colored population in Provo, and that their social life would therefore be a complete minus quantity, that we should not affirmatively try to recruit them and encourage them to come; that they might be better off going to some other institution where there are other colored students and where their social life would not be so seriously impaired. But again, I repeat, if they apply we will certainly accept them.

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