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State's Civil Rights Battle

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The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 18, 2008

The following is a timeline of the admission of black students to the University of Florida:

1946-58: 85 black students apply to the University of Florida and are denied admission.

1949: Virgil Hawkins and William T. Lewis are denied admission to the UF College of Law.

1954: Landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision, Brown v. Board of Education. In a companion decision, the court orders the University of Florida to admit Hawkins. The state resists. Virgil Hawkins brings his case before the Florida Supreme Court five times and the U.S. Supreme Court four times.

1957: Florida Supreme Court upholds Virgil Hawkins' denial of admission. Justice Stephen C. O'Connell, who later served as UF president, concurs.

1958: Virgil Hawkins withdraws his application in exchange for desegregation of UF graduate and professional schools.

1958: George Starke is the first black student admitted to the UF College of Law.

1962: W. George Allen is the first black student to receive a degree from the UF College of Law.

1964: Stephan Mickle is the first black student to receive an undergraduate degree from UF. He received his law degree in 1970 and later became a federal judge.

1976: Virgil Hawkins admitted to the Florida Bar.

1988: Virgil Hawkins dies at age 81.

Source: Levin College of Law, University of Florida

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