St. Philip's College: A Point of Pride on San Antonio's Eastside

13 Integrating the Schools: The 1950s

81 friends, both of whom worked long and hard for St. Philip ’s cause, now found themselves on opposite sides of the controversy. Thus went the dialogue, not just between these two long-time friends, but also in the city itself. During the course of the arguments for closing St. Philip ’s, it was noted that for twenty-plus years, from  when the Johnston Memorial Building was completed, until  when the gymnasium was erected, lack of funds had virtually halted construction on St. Philip’s campus. During that time, no new buildings were constructed, nor were plans made for future construction. With so many years of failing to add to the campus or to make timely repairs on the existing buildings, many in the black community felt that it would take many years to put St. Philip’s on par with SAC. Heated discussions were held among faculty and students , both on and off St. Philip’s campus, at San Antonio College and in the community. Many in San Antonio’s white community favored a “wait and see” policy, while most blacks in San Antonio felt that more than enough time had been spent waiting for their status to improve. The anxiety and agitation coursing across the nation because of the segregation issue mirrored the angst felt amongst both races in San Antonio regarding the issue of integration. Many blacks, having served their country in integrated units in the military, were unwilling to tolerate a return to segregated conditions. Many whites, accustomed to being in positions of authority, were not yet ready to accept blacks as equals. Facing Reality San Antonio’s black community, weary of the desegregation rhetoric, voiced their sentiment that St. Philip’s should be drastically improved and both St. Philip’s and SAC opened to all students. The other option was to close St. Philip’s and transfer the black students to SAC. The Board of Trustees took the position that, rather than integrate the two schools, they would adhere to the “separate but equal” law of the state of Texas by maintaining separate facilities. The board proposed floating a bond issue to raise monies to improve both schools, arguing that St. Philip’s would be brought up to par with San Antonio College. Even with the proposal, and in spite of the public rhetoric about “maintaining impartiality and equality,” St. Philip’s was to receive only about onefourth of the proceeds of the bond issue, $,, while San Antonio College would receive the balance from the $,,. The amount that St. Philip’s received was not enough to correct the inequities in the two schools, but the Board of Trustees countered with the argument that though the funding was unequal, the allocation was based on student enrollment. Some members of the community, who were strong supporters of closing St. Philip’s, advocated for enrolling all of the students at San Antonio College. G. J. Suttonwasamongthesesupporters .DeanNorris,astrongproponent of the measure, favored keeping St. Philip’s open. The two colleagues, Norris and Sutton, political allies,  Integrating the Schools: The 1950s Mr. Sutton offered a motion to discontinue operation of the St. Philip’s College as of August 31, 1952 and to enroll the students of St. Philip’s Branch in the San Antonio College for the fall semester of next year. The President then called for a second to this motion but there was none offered. The President then announced that this motion had failed for lack of a second. 82 • Chapter 13 St. Philip’s. Sutton said, ‘Just end this segregation and start building new schools.’ But, the state law did not permit this, the State Department of Education, TEA as it was called in those days, did not allow for that and I don’t think the State Legislature allowed it either. It had to come finally from the Supreme Court. Despite dissenting urgings to the contrary from the black community and from G. J. Sutton, the board, with the exception of Sutton’s lone dissenting vote, voted as a majority to keep St. Philip’s open, resolving to “build a new St. Philip’s” and, with the new construction, hoping to placate the black community. William Hudgins, Dean of Students, Emeritus Dean Hudgins recalled circumstances surrounding the acquisition of the pool at St. Philip’s, noting that it took some time before they finally got a swimming pool at the college. One of Hudgins’s students, who eventually became a lawyer, came over to St...