University Minority Recruitment

Dr. Philip Hubbard (1921-2002), first African-American professor at the University of Iowa, recalls changes at the university in the late 1960s.

Beginning in 1968, following the assassination of Martin Luther King, this university, like many other institutions throughout the country, made extensive efforts to attract more black students at that time. But we quickly added other minorities--the Latino, the Native American or American Indian. But at the time we first brought in the group in 1968, I think there were 42. And that has grown to more than 700 minority students now of all different categories. I think about 450 of those are black. That’s in all colleges.