Reflections on 50+ Years of Integration

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One part of this year’s Homecoming activities focuses on the 50th anniversary of the enrollment of Benoit Nzengu, the first Congolese student to attend Davidson.  There had been other international students before, what made Ben remarkable is that he entered the college as a Negro, the first after the college trustees voted to end segregation policies.

The first black students at Davidson were from the Congo, Ben Nzengu arriving in the fall of 1962 and Georges Nzolgola-Ntalaja in the fall of 1963.  Two African-American students arrived in the fall of 1964, Leslie Brown and Wayne Crumwell.  Slowly over the next decade the numbers of African-American students increased and the Black Student Coalition was formed in 1972.

Looking now at the college, at student organizations such as the ACAA (Asian Culture and Awareness Committee), OLAS (Organization of Latin Students), MAPS (Minority Association of Premedical Students), BAD (Balkan Association of Davidson), Curry Club, and Muslim Student Association diversity has a much different meaning than it had in 1962.

Future generations of Davidson students may wonder that so much attention was placed on the question of black students when in the same fall of 1962, the college accepted students from Korea (Byoung Lee), Chile (Erwin Jorge Landsberger), and Japan (Nobutoku Tatsuta–who not necessarily the first students from their countries to attend Davidson–without requiring a trustee decision.

It’s all a part of the complex history of race relations and our ongoing awareness of our multicultural society. David Yonan could come to Davidson from Oraamiah, Persia in 1896 or Paul Chih Meng from Peking, China in 1921 with little notice and Jimmy Jung from Kannapolis by way of Canton, China could captain the wrestling team in 1949.

The archives staff welcomes additions to our records on college diversity.  For instance, we are not sure who the first Asian-American or Hispanic-American student at Davidson were.  We know very little about our Native American alumni.  If you have memories,  stories, photographs to share, send them along.  You can comment here or check out our new Community Space (more on this later in the week).

With thanks to everyone who has shaped the Davidson community and especially, the pioneers who brought different experiences, may this be a special Homecoming!