My name is Diana Chicas and I am a history student at Trinity Washington University. For my summer research project, I choose to study how the Civil Rights Movement impacted race relations among students. The Civil Rights Movement has always been a great interest of mine which is why I was very happy to be given a chance to research it more in depth.

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TRINITY: RACE RELATIONS DURING THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

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            Trinity is a place that has a rich history that goes further back than WWI and the Spanish-American War. Throughout its history, Trinity has faced many struggles but has withstood the test of time. One important moment in Trinity’s history was the Civil Rights Movement because it changed the college a lot. The Civil Rights Movement was a time when African Americans became tired of second-class treatment and pushed for their basic rights. The reason African Americans had to push for their rights was because they were being constantly oppressed by segregation and other forms of racial oppression. During this time period, Trinity’s student body mostly consisted of middle and upper middle-class white women[1]. In my research, I will be looking at relations between African American and White Trinity students during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s to 1970s timeframe.

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            Originally, Trinity was built as the female counterpart of Catholic University which did not allow women to enroll at the time but Trinity strived to provide girls with an excellent education that would help them in their future endeavors[2]. In Trinity’s early history, this mission focused on young well-off white women and it would not be until 1965 that Trinity would allow a large group of talented African American girls to enroll because they began the process of diversification[3][4]. A big reason behind the push to diversify was because Archbishop Patrick O’Boyle of Washington quietly called for integration of Catholic schools in Washington, DC[5]. At the same time, another reason for integration was that many injustices happening across the country made Trinity’s nuns see how morally wrong segregation was. Injustices like the angry and violent mobs banning together to riot over the integration of schools was one of the many examples of how flawed the system was. The Trinity Times, one of my main sources of research, unfortunately, did not specifically record this milestone or many others of the Civil Rights Movement. Many issues of the Trinity Times focused on the communist hysteria that much of the country fell into and this can be seen as one form of indifference that made many African American students feel like they were being ignored or overlooked.

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            To make black students at Trinity feel like they had a voice, the Black Student Council was formed to make sure to bring up their community’s concerns to staff and other students. This was a progressive action on Trinity’s part and it shows how they really wanted to help the black student body. The Black Student Council was mostly made up of black students and school faculty members, who were mainly white, that wanted to help improve relations. Many on this council also hoped the Black Student Council would help improve the way that white students interacted with black students. One method the Black Student Council hoped to make Black students feel like they were being heard was by giving out questionnaires for the students to fill out. These questionnaires were vital to the council because it told them what changes needed to be made in order to not only make African American students feel welcomed but also to improve interactions with black and white students.

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The questions on this questionnaire varied from “Is there a Black and White problem?” to “How do you cope with this problem?”[6]. These questionnaires helped the Black Student Council figure out what students were thinking and how to these approach problems. These questions were designed to help the Black Student Council know what was truly going on and since the questionnaires were anonymous, students felt comfortable answering honestly. The group of participants was small because there were few African American students but this made it easier to survey a large number of the black student body which was a total of about 15 students in 1965[7]. The responses of the African American/Black students who participated in the questionnaires varied but they almost all agreed that there was more Trinity could do. One of the things that students suggested that Trinity could do was to enroll more African American students and hire more black teachers. Although the Black Student Council wanted more African American students, they also wanted prospective students to be aware of Trinity’s environment.

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A notable thing that the Black Student Council did was that they warned many prospective students about Trinity’s racism problem. Members of Trinity’s Black Student Council warned prospective students by making flyers that highlighted the many difficulties they would face. Things like “Black Sisters-We love you! So, we warn you! Stay away!”[8] and “If you are white, catholic, middle class-Trinity is the perfect place for you!” [9] were written on these flyers. The Black Student Council wanted to make young women fully understand what kind of environment they were getting themselves into. I believe this was emphasized because, in the questionnaires, many students expressed that they were starry-eyed about coming to Trinity and befriending white students only to be surprised by the lack of friendliness.

There were some white students at Trinity that opposed many different aspects of the Civil Rights Movement and Trinity’s involvement. It is recorded in some documents that some students criticized Trinity’s willingness to help influential organizations of the Civil Rights Movement. This is highlighted in one issue of the Trinity Times, there were a couple of students who wrote letters to the editor that denounced the Dean’s “hospitality” towards members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee[10]. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was a Civil Rights organization mainly geared towards college students. During the Easter vacation of 1965, SNCC members were visiting Washington, DC for a convention and the Dean had allowed the members to sleep in Cuvilly’s first floor[11]. Some students believed that Trinity was using its facilities for a political purpose because by allowing SNCC members to stay in Cuvilly, the school was pushing a political agenda about the Civil Rights Movement[12].

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This perspective that some of the white students had does not represent the rest of the white student body because the rest of the white student body either did not agree and or were quiet about their opinions. The silence does not last long because in November of 1968 the Trinity Times published an issue that focused heavily on African American students and their experience[13] because the writing staff began to be interested in informing the white student body. One of the notable guest writers for this issue was Lorraine Brock who was an important member of the Black Student Council and later went on to be a columnist at the Trinity Times. This was a major stepping-stone because major moments and or figures of the Civil Rights Movement were not mentioned in previous years of the Trinity Times. There was little to no references to important events, let alone how their own African American students felt about race relations within Trinity. This issue helped more white students understand the kind of things black students were thinking and feeling.

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Former Trinity student Catherine Hackett recalls her experience with small forms of discrimination in an interview. Hackett recalls how the bookstore cashier would always giver her change on the counter as opposed to giving it to her in her hands. Hackett did not think much of this until she spoke with other African American students who noticed the same thing. After a while of this, Hackett talks about how she and the other students would go to the vending machines to give the cashier exact change. Hackett also recalls how flyers for the Black student council would be defaced to say “Bullshit Council”. These things may seem insignificant but they do impact people because everyone should be treated with respect.

The Civil Rights Movement was a historical event that affected so many people around the country which includes people at Trinity. This event was something that forced many people to see the difficulties that African American students at Trinity were facing. It is important for Trinity to look at its own past because when we study the past we learn how to build a better future. When people look into Trinity’s past, they will be able to see that we have faced many challenges for gender and racial equality but we didn’t stop trying to reach that goal. Trinity kept fighting for better relations between African American and white students so that we may be able to progress together. Today, Trinity is composed of approximately 70% Black and 15% Hispanic students which shows us that Trinity continues to try to be inclusive of all kinds of people.

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African American students at Trinity during the Civil Rights Movement had to face many difficulties but many of them were able to overcome these issues. These students were able to overcome many obstacles because they found a way to express their opinions through outlets like the Trinity Times and the Black Student Council. In the process of speaking out against prejudice, black students gave the white students a chance to listen to a different perspective than their own. This time period was a learning experience for everyone at Trinity because they began to interact with people of different racial backgrounds. Race relations in this period of Trinity’s history was tense but it helped Trinity change many different aspects of its governance in order to adapt to a changing society.

 

[1] Schmalz, Julia. "Video: How an Elite Women's College Lost Its Base and Found Its Mission." The Chronicle of Higher Education. March 25, 2015.

[2] Schmalz, Julia. "Video: How an Elite Women's College Lost Its Base and Found Its Mission." The Chronicle of Higher Education. March 25, 2015.

[3] Schmalz, Julia. "Video: How an Elite Women's College Lost Its Base and Found Its Mission." The Chronicle of Higher Education. March 25, 2015.

[4] Black Student Aid 1965 to Present (1971) (Trinity Washington University, 01/08/1971)

[5] Michael Farquhar, Michael. "At Gonzaga High, Crossing the Great Divide." Washington Post. June 7, 1999.

[6] Black Experience Research Committee Report: Black Students at Trinity  (1970?) (Trinity Washington University, 1970?), pg. 1

[7] Black Student Aid 1965 to Present (1971) (Trinity Washington University, 01/08/1971)

[8] Making Your College Choice (1974) (Trinity Washington University)

[9] Why Choose Trinity??! (1974) (Trinity Washington University)

[10] Susan Pennypacker, "More SNCC," The Trinity Times (Washington), October 16, 1965, Vol 39., No. 2.

[11] Sister Ancilla Marie et al. "Letters to the Editor." The Trinity Times (Washington), September 25, 1965, Vol 39., No. 1.

[12] Sister Ancilla Marie et al. "Letters to the Editor." The Trinity Times (Washington), September 25, 1965, Vol 39., No. 1.

[13] Jeanette Jackson et al. "Six Blacks 'Tell It Like It Is' in 'Mini-World'" The Trinity Times (Washington), November 2, 1968, Vol 42., No. 3.

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