[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 3716-3717]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO IRVINE LEE SHANKS

 Mr. BUNNING. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to 
Irvine Lee Shanks, who passed away Friday, March 5, 2004, at the age of 
73. Mr. Shanks broke the college basketball color barrier in Kentucky 
when he took the court for Berea College in 1954. On that day in 
February, at a small basketball stadium in Ohio, he became the first 
black man to play for a previously all-white college basketball team.
  He enrolled at Berea College at the age of 23, likely lured by that 
institution's goal of educating the underprivileged at no cost. To this 
day, Berea is one of the few affordable options for the lower-income 
families of Kentucky and Appalachia.
  Just as Berea is not your typical college, Mr. Shanks wasn't your 
typical student. He was married with two children. He was a veteran of 
the Korean War, choosing service to his country rather than a 
basketball scholarship at Tennessee A&I in Nashville.
  Returning to college was difficult, but the 6-foot-5 center excelled 
on the basketball court. He stood out among his teammates for other 
reasons as well, but there were no major racially-inspired incidents 
during his games. His team, however, often chose to miss meals or sleep 
on campuses because they could not find restaurants or hotels that 
would serve a black man. Despite these difficulties, his team came 
together in 1955 and upset Georgetown College to win the Kentucky 
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship.
  Mr. Shanks' experience in sports reminds me of my time in Major 
League Baseball and my good friend Jackie Robinson. Breaking barriers 
and achieving success seem to be a common link between these two 
athletes. These pioneers in sports taught our Nation quite a bit and 
deserve our thanks for setting America on the road to equality. What I 
have seen in baseball makes me admire Mr. Shanks accomplishments that 
much more.

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  He was a role model for all throughout the State and helped change 
society's attitudes towards race. He will be missed.

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