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Alumni Association Home > Past Issues > 2003 > March-April 2003   Print View Letters 3/10/2003 An Early Integrated Sorority In reading “The Way Spaces Were Allocated” by Tim Brady [November–December], I was reminded of a positive action taken in 1958 by several female students who were aghast when observing the hurtful actions and policies that affected African American students. This included exclusion from any sorority on the Twin Cities campus. Led by Carol (Salman) Meyer (B.S. ’61), a small group of women discussed what they could do, and out of this concern came the founding of a new sorority, Nu Sigma Pi, based on the premise that membership was to be open to all women regardless of race or creed. Indeed, the logo features an open door. Two of the early members, both black students from the South, proved to be especially exciting to the membership as they would bring their dates to the social functions—dates who on Saturday afternoons were two of the biggest stars on the football field. By 1961, two other [integrated] sororities were identified in other parts of the country and a national organization was founded, changing its name to Lambda Delta Phi. The local chapter is still very vital today and continues to be located on the St. Paul campus. J. Kathleen Ulku Laurila (B.A. ’62) Golden Valley, Minnesota Happy, However . . . The article “No Other Moment Like This One” [January–February] and the one on housing (“The Way Spaces Were Allocated”) were of great interest to me. During my time at the University, I was active in many social causes. I would like to congratulate you on the article, but there are also many omissions. There was no mention of Professor Forest Wiggins [who became the first full-time African American faculty member at the University, in 1947]. Many of us are still convinced that there were certainly issues of discrimination in his case. [After questioning the social order of the University, Wiggins was denied tenure and was terminated.] I recognize that there were political issues involved, but it certainly doesn’t give credit to the University that it insisted, at that time, on what we now refer to as “political correctness.” There was no mention of Hobart Banks (B.A. ’52), who was the first African American to become a member of the student council. His cause and candidacy was championed by the student chapter of the American Veterans’ Committee. This group of veterans was formed in part because there was no veterans’ organization that would accept black former service personnel. The chapter at the U of M was very active. It also did a great deal of work through Minneapolis Mayor Hubert Humphrey’s (B.A. ’39) office, which helped to identify many of the issues of discrimination in the Minneapolis community. I recognize that it would be impossible to include everything, and I was more than happy to see what was cited. Rosemary Niemann (B.A. ’48) Tucson, Arizona Keep the Stories Coming Thanks so much for the article on the history of African American students and political organizing at the University. As an alum from the mid-1990s, I benefited greatly from the legacy of these student activists but didn’t know many of their stories. Please keep telling the stories of politics and the University—they are controversial, contradictory, and at the heart of our state. Matt Musel (B.A. ’97) Faribault, Minnesota

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