[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 148 (Wednesday, September 10, 2025)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E835]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RECOGNIZING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF AN HISTORIC ATHLETIC ACHIEVEMENT IN
THE HISTORY OF THE LOUISIANA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION (LHSAA)
_____
HON. TROY A. CARTER
of louisiana
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
Mr. CARTER of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to humbly honor
and celebrate the heroic accomplishment of the Saint Augustine High
School 1975 Football Team, proudly located in Louisiana's 2nd
Congressional District, of which I represent in Louisiana.
From 1951, its first year as a Catholic high school in New Orleans,
through the mid-1960s, St. Augustine excelled in three major varsity
sports: football, basketball and track and field. But the school,
opened under the administration of New Orleans Archbishop Joseph
Francis Rummel, was relegated to competing in the Louisiana
Interscholastic Athletic and Literary Organization (LIALO) during the
closing era of segregation.
Its principal, Josephite Father Robert Grant, wanted more for his
athletes. He wanted them to compete against the city's other Catholic
schools, who were members of the Louisiana High School Athletic
Association. His first attempt came in 1962 when Father Grant wrote to
the principals of the five schools--Jesuit, St. Aloysius, Holy Cross,
De La Salle and Redemptorist--asking them to compete against St. Aug on
an interscholastic sports level. He thought that would be possible
because the Archdiocese of New Orleans had already desegregated its
elementary schools.
No one accepted the invitation. But there was one reply, by De La
Salle principal, Christian Brother Cassian. It was painfully blunt:
``Father, personally, I am not one to rush into situations which may
not be to my advantage and to those associated with me. For years, I
have refused to play certain high school teams on the basis that there
was nothing to gain by such competition. This is how I feel about your
request to play De La Salle. Time may change my attitude.''
Mr. Clarence Jupiter, who would go on to become a top administrator
at Xavier University, championed the cause by asking why St. Augustine
and Xavier Preparatory, which competed in major boys' sports, were not
allowed to play their white Catholic counterparts? These institutions
developed All-Americans and future pros and perform exceptionally well.
Yet the fans never saw these schools compete against the other five. On
the surface, little was happening to change the situation, but Father
Grant was tirelessly working behind the scenes.
In June 1964, Fr. Grant notified Archbishop John Cody that he would
seek admittance to the LHSAA, to establish athletic relations with the
other Catholic high schools in the archdiocese. He also notified those
schools of his plan, asking them to include St. Aug on their
basketball, baseball and track and field schedules for the 1964-65
school year.
Father Grant had no delusions that LHSAA Commissioner T.H. ``Muddy''
Waters would greet his request with open arms. And he was right. Jesuit
principal Father C.J. Stallworth, who had served on the LHSAA executive
committee for seven years, said he would do what he could to assist St.
Augustine, but added it would be helpful to him to have Sister Madalena
of Xavier Prep also apply for admission to bolster his request.
Father Grant faced resistance from other Catholic schools, whose
coaches set the athletic schedules. The Catholic League coaches ignored
the two LIALO schools when they set the schedules for 1964-65. The CYO
tournament and Knights of Columbus track meet also kept their events
segregated.
At the January 1965 annual meeting, the LHSAA denied St. Augustine's
membership request but amended its constitution to allow LHSAA and
LIALO schools to compete against each other.
A year later, Rummel, Shaw and Cor Jesu were admitted by a two-thirds
vote of LHSAA principals; St. Aug was not. Although the local Catholic
school principals voted to admit the school into their district by a 5-
3 count, the vote of LHSAA principals numbered 11 yeas, 185 nays. The
rest is history.
St. Augustine gained entry through a federal court suit in 1966, the
CYO allowed St. Augustine and Xavier Prep to compete in its tournament,
and the Knights of Columbus ceased running its annual track and field
meet.
On Friday, December 12, 1975, in Strawberry Stadium. located on the
campus of Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond, Louisiana, the Saint
Augustine High School Purple Knights achieved their first state title
in the Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA)--the all-
white athletic league that St. Aug integrated through winning a Federal
Court case in 1967.
St. Augustine has won state championships in football, basketball and
track over the years. Xavier Prep became an all-girls school a few
years after joining the LHSAA.
The LIALO became a defunct organization in 1969. Its members joined
the LHSAA. Almost every high school in the LHSAA has a mixed
enrollment.
Team Roster Included: Virgil Alexis, Michael Ben, Winston
Burns, Ken Cobette, Gary Craddock, Oyd Craddock, Charles
Cross, Donald Davis, Kurt Davis, Travis Duroncelet, Joseph
Evans, Greg Fernandez, Bernard Gaines, Zachary Gaston, Henry
Gibson, Derek Gray, Raymond Gray, Marty Griffin, Richard
Harleaux, Louis Holmes, Arthur Hunter, Harold Jackson, Walter
Lain, Sidney Lawrence, Thaddeus Lee, Stephen McNair, Michael
Moody, Keith Moore, Elliot Muhammad (Boisdore), Louis Oubre,
Larry Parker, Tyrone Parker, Burnell Quinn, Eric Richard,
Victor Richard, Michael Roussell, Tyronne Smith, Gary
Washington, Christopher Willard, Alan Williams, Wydell
Williams, Rynell Wilson.
Deceased Team Members: Joseph Broussard, Nathaniel Dorsey,
John Doucette, Alan Florent, Percy Gibson, Arthur Hagan,
Byron Honore, Ronnie James, Jerome Mazique, Alvin Reed,
George Robertson, Daryl Smith, Renard Smith, Brian Thompson,
Fredrick Thornton.
Coaching Staff: Ronald Arceneaux, Anthony Biagas, Eddie
Flint, Daryl McConduit (Deceased), Anthony Simmons
(Deceased), Otis Washington--Head Coach (Deceased).
PURPLE KNIGHT DISTRICT & STATE PLAYOFF RECORD
George Washington Carver, 33-0
John McDonogh, 21-0
Joseph S. Clark, 51-0
Jesuit 35-7
Archbishop Rummel, 19-6
Holy Cross, 41-7
DeLaSalle, 33-0
Chalmette, 34-0
Archbishop Shaw, 26-0
Brother Martin, 7-0
STATE PLAYOFFS
George Washington Carver **, 29-8
West Jefferson **, 14-6
South Lafourche, 20-7
Sulphur, 11-10
Covington, 35-13
** First 2 high school games held in the LA Superdome--40k
in attendance
The team's historic 15-0 season record not only affirmed St. Aug
could excel, but it could dominate in the face of adversity. The team's
performance both uplifted the high school and the entire Black
community in New Orleans and around the state. The team was ranked No.
1 all season, was first in LHSAA to achieve 15-0 record, and first to
play in the Louisiana Superdome. For the season, the team outscored
opponents 409 points to 64 points and held opponents scoreless in 7
games. That year, eleven (11) team members received football
scholarships to Division 1 Universities. Currently, over 30 athletes
have advanced to the National Football League, the largest total than
any high school in the United States of America.
Law and Hope are the names of the streets between which St. Augustine
High School has been located for 74 years. More appropriate symbols
would be difficult to find as so much of this school speaks of Divine
Providence. I congratulate the St. Augustine High School Purple
Knights, the 1975 Championship Football Team, and those that continue
the mission of the Josephite Fathers and Brothers. Rise Sons of the
Gold and Purple.
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