UIL Celebrates Black History Month
By Stephanie Ramirez | Friday, February 27, 2009 10:07 AM
Walking in to the University Interscholastic League office, one of the first things a visitor see is a wall that displays more than just your average office artwork. In honor of Black History Month, the UIL unveiled a display to honor African-American participants over the years.
“I wanted the exhibit to show the same support for Black History Month that is exhibited around the country,” UIL Executive Director Charles Breithaupt said. “At the UIL, we have so much to celebrate in regards to Black History Month because we have had so many gifted actors, musicians and athletes compete.”
When he was principal of Hardin-Jefferson High School, Breithaupt had his students put together a display, which eventually became his inspiration for this project.
“Dr. Breithaupt came to me and said he wanted to showcase the students that have competed in academic and athletic events, including students from the Prairie View Interscholastic League,” said Mary Mendez, the athletic staffer who designed and put together the display.
The PVIL was the state governing organization of extracurricular activities for African-American students from the 1920s to 1967 before it merged with the UIL. The oldest photo displayed is actually a photo from one of the PVIL boys’ basketball state tournaments dating back to 1955.
“It is a real tragedy that before the PVIL, our black students could not participate in extracurricular events,” Breithaupt said. “But thankfully, once the UIL state executive committee met and allowed for the integration in 1967, the schools joined the UIL merging the two organizations.”
In 1968, the first year PVIL schools were able to compete in the newly integrated UIL events, Houston Wheatley High School won the boys’ basketball State Tournament. A photo of this tournament is displayed on the third floor of UIL.
Other photos displayed on the wall in the lobby include swimming and diving, football and golf, as well as academic and music events such as the One-Act Play and marching band competitions.
The unveiling took place on Feb. 12. Vice President of diversity for the University of Texas Dr. Greg Vincent, former University of Texas Vice President Dr. James Hill and long-time Austin ISD administrator and charter member of the UIL waiver-review board, Dr. Charles Akins, spoke and helped with the unveiling of the wall.
This display wall will be used throughout the rest of the year to display significant events, people and processes of the UIL.