[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 99 (Thursday, July 11, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S5664]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ``GAME OF CHANGE''

  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I am pleased to join the distinguished 
Senator from Illinois, Mr. Kirk, in submitting a resolution celebrating 
the 50th anniversary of Loyola University of Chicago's historic season 
as National Collegiate Athletics Association men's basketball 
champions. The season is also remembered for the historic matchup with 
Mississippi State University in the NCAA Tournament, which helped end 
racial segregation in college athletics.
  The Mississippi State and Loyola teams, along with their coaches and 
school administrators, led with courage and sportsmanship and a love of 
the game of basketball. That contest a half century ago helped to move 
my State and our Nation forward in addressing the inequalities of our 
society.
  I appreciate the legacy and inspiring example of these teams, and am 
pleased to cosponsor the resolution introduced today by Senators Kirk, 
Durbin, and Wicker.
  I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a copy of the 
Clarion Ledger newspaper article from March 18, 2013, titled, ``As 
March Madness nears, so does 50th anniversary of MSU's `Game of 
Change'.''

  As March Madness nears, so does 50th anniversary of MSU's ``Game of 
                                Change''

                          (By Jerry Mitchell)

  Loyola captain Jerry Harkness shakes hands with MSU captain Joe Dan 
Gold before the historic 1963 game.
  As March Madness nears, so does the 50th anniversary of the ``Game of 
Change,'' where the all-white Mississippi State University basketball 
team dodged a judge's injunction and the governor's wrath to play the 
integrated Loyola University of Chicago.
  Those across the nation know more about Texas Western's 1966 defeat 
of Kentucky, becoming the first champion with five African-American 
starters (depicted in the 2006 film, Glory Road).
  While that game, once and for all, settled the question of race on 
the court, MSU's game against Loyola also played a critical role. The 
blog, The '60s at 50, quotes from the March 25 edition of Sports 
Illustrated:
  ``Literally out of hiding to play Loyola the night before had come 
Mississippi State, the team that saddened the hearts of segregationists 
everywhere by agreeing--eagerly--to participate in a tournament open to 
Negroes. On the eve of his team's departure from Starkville, Coach Babe 
McCarthy got word that a sheriff was out with a court order that could 
keep the team in Mississippi. Like Little Eva skipping across the ice 
ahead of the bloodhounds, McCarthy skipped into Tennessee. University 
President Dr. D.W. Colvard vanished, too. Early Thursday morning an 
assistant coach verified that the coast was clear at the airport, 
hustled the team into a plane and away it flew on a modern underground 
railroad in reverse.''
  McCarthy had faced a series of frustrations as MSU's basketball 
coach. His teams had dominated nationally, winning the SEC championship 
in 1959, 1961 and 1962--only to watch Kentucky represent the league in 
the postseason because Mississippi authorities prevented them from 
playing any integrated teams.
  Former Clarion-Ledger sportswriter Kyle Veazey (currently with The 
Commercial Appeal) has penned a new book on the subject, Champions for 
Change: How the Mississippi State Bulldogs and Their Bold Coach Defied 
Segregation.
  He was stunned to find out no one had written the story and decided 
to write it himself.
  When the question of playing an integrated team arose in 1959, MSU's 
president at the time, Ben Hilbun, received mail 3-to-1 in favor of 
keeping the team at home.
  Four years later, the mail ran 3-to-1 in favor of playing, Veazey 
said. ``Sports helped personalize the integration issue when it was so 
often being characterized by polarizing figures.''
  He suspects the 1959 and 1962 teams could have won the national 
championship if permitted to go.
  In the 1962-1963 season, the Loyola team, with four African-American 
starters, faced its own difficulties, encountering vitriol and jeering 
from some fans during games in the South.
  Before leaving for the big game in March 1963, Loyola players 
received hate mail from the Ku Klux Klan, according to ESPN.
  Photographers snapped the legendary picture of Loyola captain Jerry 
Harkness and MSU captain Joe Dan Gold shaking hands at half court. 
(Harkness told USA TODAY he decided to play basketball his senior year 
after a visitor to the Harlem gym urged him to play. That visitor? 
Baseball legend Jackie Robinson.)
  Loyola defeated MSU 61-51 on the way to winning the national 
championship in a game watched in person by a little-known boxer named 
Cassius Clay.
  Throngs of MSU fans surrounded their team arriving at the airport, 
and a survey afterward found that Mississippians overwhelming favored 
letting MSU play the game.
  Sports began to change hearts in a way that laws couldn't, Veazey 
said. ``It was an example of Mississippi doing something right when it 
was doing so many other things wrong. It showed Mississippians that 
progress could happen, that men like Babe McCarthy and (MSU President) 
Dean Colvard could be courageous--and successful.''

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