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PROVO — More than 50 years after a fraught moment in college sports and the Civil Rights Movement, a turn of events involving the University of Wyoming and Brigham Young University is the focus of a College Football Hall of Fame exhibit.
All involved in those decisions have pushed forward, joining forces to move beyond the race controversy of 1969 and help those in need. The upshot has been distribution of nearly 1 million pounds of food by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in conjunction with the Black 14 Philanthropy, a group that emerged from the controversy, and a partnership between the Black 14 and BYU.
"I think this is a great way for BYU to reaffirm that this is a place of belonging. We embrace people from other races, ethnicities and cultures," said Dan Heist, an assistant professor at BYU's George W. Romney Institute for Public Service and Ethics. "When thinking about how our relationship relates to the past, I think what we are doing now is helping to reconcile any past experiences with racism."
Coinciding with Black History Month, the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta unveiled an exhibit on Feb. 5 recounting the events of October 1969 that led to the dismissal of 14 Black players from the University of Wyoming football team. The players had broached the idea of wearing black armbands during a game against BYU, in protest of the Latter-day Saint policy at the time that kept Black men out of the church's priesthood, a policy that has since been reversed. In response, Lloyd Eaton, then the Wyoming coach, kicked them all off the team, prompting an outcry from the players and civil rights advocates.
What followed were years of anger for some of the Black 14 — the name they garnered — sentiments that only started to ease in 2016 when CBS aired a documentary about the controversy. The reconciliation continued in 2019, when the University of Wyoming offered an apology. It took another step forward in 2022, when BYU honored the Black 14 during a series of events in Provo, including a BYU game and the showing of a documentary about the controversy made by BYU journalism students, "The Black 14: Healing Hearts and Feeding Souls."
Along the way, the church started a partnership with the Black 14 Philanthropy, formed in 2019 in part to distribute food around the country to those in need. The issue took front-and-center earlier this month at the unveiling of the College Football Hall of Fame exhibit about the controversy, another step forward in the reconciliation process, BYU officials say.
"By showcasing this exhibit during Black History Month, the Hall of Fame acknowledges the challenges faced by Black athletes in their pursuit of equality and justice, and provides a platform to educate visitors about the Black 14's story and their impact on the sport and society at large," said Denis Crawford, historian and exhibit designer for the museum. The exhibit will stay up through March.
Ed Carter, a professor at BYU's School of Communications, took part in the activities in Atlanta along with other church officials, BYU students and others. The positive relationships and philanthropic initiatives that have come of the controversy, he said, offer an example "about coming together and overcoming trials and challenges through faith and hope." Moreover, he said, recalling the "painful" events of the past helps you learn from them."
"We can learn a lot from them and their story and how they handled things. And we can learn how to do better in terms of relationships with people across racial and religious lines," he said.
Mel Hamilton, one of the Black 14 who took part in the Atlanta activities, said his takeaway from the controversy is that seeking "revenge" won't yield positive results. "Hate is not going to get you anywhere. Try to think of a way to turn that bad incident around to the benefit of others," he said, according to a church press release.
In all, the church has provided more than 1 million pounds of food for distribution by the Black 14 Philanthropy, with the relationship still going strong. Some 40,000 pounds of food alone were delivered to the Atlanta Community Food Bank during the Feb. 5-6 Hall of Fame events.
Going forward, Heist said BYU students, including some enrolled in the university's Master of Public Administration program, will continue working with the Black 14 Philanthropy to keep the organization going and to help it thrive. The students get hands-on experience while the organization gets their energy and know-how.
Carter, for his part, said he will try to apply lessons learned from the Black 14 controversy to his own life.
The football players' ultimately positive response to the harsh hand they were dealt "inspires me to think I should try to do the same, make some positive change and try to serve people, let the world be a little better place," he said.
