SYRACUSE, N.Y.
In 1970, nine Black Syracuse University football players became rebellious outcasts when they quit the team to protest racial injustice.
Now, 36 years later, the university has officially recognizing them for their courageous stand.
On Friday, they received Chancellor’s Medals, one of the university’s highest honors. Chancellor Nancy Cantor called the men “emblematic of the values we want for our students and for ourselves when we face critical issues of justice and equality.”
On Saturday, former National Football League star Art Monk, a 1980 Syracuse alumnus, gave them their long-denied letterman jackets at a halftime ceremony during the Syracuse-Louisville football game.
“Sometimes you have to make a stand for your principles if you want to believe in who and what you are,” said John Lobon, one of the former players and now a member of the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.
“Syracuse University I forgave long ago. I left my heart but not my soul. Today, you returned my heart. I can now allow you to be part of my soul,” Lobon said.
