SEC barrier breaker

On Dec. 2, the Southeastern Conference honored four University of Kentucky players who integrated SEC football 50 years ago. This was a wonderful tribute to these student-athletes and to UK, as Nate Northington, Mel Paige, Wilbur Hackett and Houston Hogg were introduced as honorary captains prior to kickoff of the championship game between Auburn and Georgia. Their UK teammate, the late Greg Paige, was honored posthumously. The Herald-Leader is to be congratulated for giving this historic event prominent coverage.

There was another landmark event in the heritage of SEC sports’ racial integration worth noting.

On Dec. 1, Perry Wallace died at age 69. He was a distinguished professor of law at American University who had earned his law degree at Columbia University. As an undergraduate at Vanderbilt from 1966 to 1970, he was the first African-American student athlete to play varsity basketball in the SEC. Not only did he excel in basketball, he achieved academic distinction and graduated with honors, majoring in engineering.

He was a genuine student-athlete. Thanks to his excellence and perseverance, the rest is history for the SEC — and our present and future universities edge toward equity and social justice.

This story was originally published December 15, 2017 at 6:59 PM with the headline "SEC barrier breaker."