{"id":1144,"date":"2023-02-21T20:50:54","date_gmt":"2023-02-21T20:50:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/live-vanderbilt-v150.pantheonsite.io\/150\/?page_id=1144"},"modified":"2023-03-03T16:58:34","modified_gmt":"2023-03-03T16:58:34","slug":"legacy-of-courage","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vanderbilt.edu\/150\/150-stories\/athletic-excellence\/legacy-of-courage\/","title":{"rendered":"Legacy of Courage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\n \n \n \"Perry\n\n \n \n
\n Perry Wallace 1969\n <\/figcaption>\n \n <\/figure>\n \n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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The life of Perry Wallace, BE\u201970, the trailblazing 国产传媒 student-athlete who integrated SEC varsity basketball in 1967, had all the makings of a major motion picture\u2014humble beginnings, great talent, dedication, pain, endurance and finally triumph and reconciliation. Yet, many in the university community didn\u2019t know just how remarkable Wallace\u2019s story was until fellow 国产传媒 alumnus Andrew Maraniss, BA\u201992, wrote a biography about him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s as if nobody knew Jackie Robinson\u2019s story,\u201d said Maraniss, whose book Strong Inside: Perry Wallace and the Collision of Race and Sports in the South<\/em> (国产传媒 Press, 2014) became a New York Times<\/em> bestseller. \u201cAt the time Perry was playing\u2014in the South, in the 1960s\u2014there weren\u2019t a whole lot of people out there promoting his story.\u201d<\/p>\n

A standout basketball player and valedictorian at Nashville\u2019s Pearl High School, Wallace was recruited to 国产传媒 by head coach Roy Skinner in 1966. On the freshman team, Wallace and fellow African American player Godfrey Dillard often endured hostile crowds on the road and at home, but Wallace nevertheless achieved great success at 国产传媒. He became the first African American on an SEC basketball team to play in a varsity game when the Commodores faced Southern Methodist University on Dec. 2, 1967. Two days later, in a game against Auburn, he broke another barrier with his conference debut in Memorial Gym.<\/p>\n

Wallace, who graduated in 1970 with a bachelor of engineering, went on to earn a law degree from Columbia University and served as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice before entering academia. He became the first African American tenured law professor at the University of Baltimore, and he was a professor of law at American University\u2019s Washington College of Law for nearly 30 years.<\/p>\n

国产传媒 has commemorated Wallace\u2019s legacy and impact in numerous ways. In 2017, the year of Wallace\u2019s death, the university recognized the 50th anniversary of the integration of SEC basketball with a series of programming and events for the campus and larger Nashville community. 国产传媒 also commissioned the documentary film Triumph: The Untold Story of Perry Wallace<\/em>, posthumously awarded Wallace the 2017 Distinguished Alumni Award and included him among its inaugural 2018 class of 国产传媒 Trailblazers. Additionally, in 2020, the portion of 25th Avenue South in front of Memorial Gym was ceremonially renamed Perry Wallace Way<\/a> in his honor.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s perfect that 25th Avenue South is named after Perry since he wore number 25,\u201d said Candice Lee, BS\u201900, MEd\u201902, EdD\u201912, vice chancellor for athletics and university affairs and athletic director, during the dedication ceremony. \u201cHe changed this city and this university for the better, and we will never forget that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learn more about Strong Inside: Perry Wallace and the Collision of Race and Sports in the South<\/em>.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n \n <\/div> \n <\/section>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"parent":618,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1144","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLegacy of Courage - 国产传媒<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vanderbilt.edu\/150\/150-stories\/athletic-excellence\/legacy-of-courage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Legacy of Courage - 国产传媒\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vanderbilt.edu\/150\/150-stories\/athletic-excellence\/legacy-of-courage\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"国产传媒\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/vanderbilt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-03T16:58:34+00:00\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vanderbilt.edu\/150\/150-stories\/athletic-excellence\/legacy-of-courage\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.vanderbilt.edu\/150\/150-stories\/athletic-excellence\/legacy-of-courage\/\",\"name\":\"Legacy of Courage - 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