Spring Break
The Daily OrangeMinority alumni remember 1970 football boycott
By Anna Sweeney
Posted: 9/18/05, 10:19 PM EST Section: News
Six black members of the Syracuse University football team returned Saturday to discuss their participation in the 1970 football boycott. The gathering was a part of Coming Back Together 8, SU's reunion weekend for black and Latino alumni.
The panel focused on how there were only 200 minority students at the entire university in 1970, and they were mainly isolated to themselves.
"It was culture shock for me to come from an all-black environment to a predominately white environment," said Dwayne Walker, one of the panelists. "I received no sort of socialization skills from the university."
Protests against national events such as the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, the Kent State shootings and Martin Luther King's assassination caused classes to be canceled.
Nine black players of the SU football team accused coach Floyd "Ben" Schwartzwalder of discriminatory practices in the spring of 1969. The athletes presented Schwartzwalder with requests of better medical care for injured players, stronger academic support, fair competition for starting positions and racial integration of the coaching staff.
The players submitted their request again in the spring of 1970 and vowed to not return until a black assistant coach was hired. Under pressure, Schwartzwalder did hire a black assistant that summer, and the players wanted to return, but they had been suspended for sitting out on spring practice.
The university would only allow the players to return if they signed a statement agreeing their suspension was justified. The players refused and boycotted the season.
"People really wanted to know why we did what we did even through the process of being told, 'Do you realize what you're giving up?'" said John Lobon, a defensive end in the Class of 1973. "We did not come here with the intentions of doing this. But when you're forced into a corner, you don't have a lot of options left. Our basis was this: no one should ever have to go through this again. Bottom line."
The panel focused on how there were only 200 minority students at the entire university in 1970, and they were mainly isolated to themselves.
"It was culture shock for me to come from an all-black environment to a predominately white environment," said Dwayne Walker, one of the panelists. "I received no sort of socialization skills from the university."
Protests against national events such as the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, the Kent State shootings and Martin Luther King's assassination caused classes to be canceled.
Nine black players of the SU football team accused coach Floyd "Ben" Schwartzwalder of discriminatory practices in the spring of 1969. The athletes presented Schwartzwalder with requests of better medical care for injured players, stronger academic support, fair competition for starting positions and racial integration of the coaching staff.
The players submitted their request again in the spring of 1970 and vowed to not return until a black assistant coach was hired. Under pressure, Schwartzwalder did hire a black assistant that summer, and the players wanted to return, but they had been suspended for sitting out on spring practice.
The university would only allow the players to return if they signed a statement agreeing their suspension was justified. The players refused and boycotted the season.
"People really wanted to know why we did what we did even through the process of being told, 'Do you realize what you're giving up?'" said John Lobon, a defensive end in the Class of 1973. "We did not come here with the intentions of doing this. But when you're forced into a corner, you don't have a lot of options left. Our basis was this: no one should ever have to go through this again. Bottom line."
