Virgil Hawkins Story Paving the Way for Equal Rights In April
1949, Virgil D. Hawkins, a former faculty member of Bethune
Cookman College, applied for admission to the University of
Florida College of Law. He was academically eligible and
possessed appropriate life experience qualifications. For nine
years Hawkins and his allies would fight Florida’s Jim Crow
laws, which racially segregated its state universities, until
they were ultimately victorious in the U.S. Supreme Court. In
May of 1949, UF denied admission to Hawkins and five other
African-American applicants solely based on race. Hawkins
appealed under the Equal Protection Clause to the Florida
Supreme Court but did not prevail. The Court instead required
Florida to build a law school for black students at Florida A&M
University. Between 1948 and 1956, 85 African-American students
are denied admission to UF. “All Deliberate Speed” In the
landmark 1954 decision Brown v. Board of Education, the U.S.
Supreme Court ordered that public schools nationwide m