Furman Remembers Its Trailblazer

The activities of Black History Month typically highlight the achievements of prominent national figures such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. Greenville, however, has plenty of its own local heroes to remember, ordinary yet courageous people who have done extraordinary things.

Few Furman students, for example, have had as dramatic an impact on the university as did Joseph Vaughn, the first African American to enroll. Vaughn and his brother grew up in a single-parent household in an impoverished neighborhood in west Greenville. At Sterling, the city’s all-black high school, Joe was a natural leader and superb student. His energy and enthusiasm were infectious. He spoke fluent French, presided over the student body, and displayed a cosmopolitan outlook that left fellow students with the impression that he had studied abroad.

“Joe was an avid reader,” recalls Greenville mayor pro-tem Lillian Brock Flemming, “and the books he read took him places that his upbringing could not.” One of those unexpected places was Furman.

Dr. Francis Bonner, Furman’s vice president and dean, helped pave the way for Vaughn to enroll at the university. In 1961-62 the Furman faculty and student body had voted in favor of integration, and Dr. Bonner had presented the results to the board of trustees, to no avail. In 1963, on the heels of a federal court order requiring Clemson to admit blacks, the Furman faculty again voted to end the “custom of excluding Negroes.” This time the trustees agreed in principle but established no timetable for admitting African Americans.

In 1964 Dr. Bonner, now serving as interim president, again urged the board of trustees to adopt a race-blind admissions policy. He found a new ally in Dr. Gordon Blackwell, the president of Florida State University. In the spring of 1964 Blackwell was asked to become Furman’s new president. He agreed to do so only if the university embraced integration. His request was granted. The trustees approved the recruitment of African-American students, and Joe Vaughn was the first student accepted.

But many members of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, which then governed Furman, steadfastly opposed the admission of blacks. A confrontation seemed unavoidable. In May 1964, four months before Joe Vaughn was scheduled to enroll, Wilbert Wood, chair of Furman’s trustees, convinced the executive committee of the Baptist Convention to support the new race-blind policy. The committee decided, however, that Furman could not implement the change until after the convention’s annual meeting in November.

The delay meant that Joe Vaughn could not enroll for the fall term, so Dr. Bonner arranged for him to take classes at Johnson C. Smith, an all-black university in Charlotte. Then a crisis erupted. At the Baptist Convention’s meeting in November, the delegates defied the executive committee’s recommendation and voted down Furman’s new policy. A crestfallen Dr. Blackwell stressed to trustees that the convention’s decision would do “irreparable harm” to Furman and the cause of civil rights.

In the face of the Convention’s action, the board of trustees, all of whom were then Baptists elected by the Convention, called a special meeting on December 8. It was a tense moment. Dr. Blackwell reminded the group that his decision to become Furman’s new president hinged on their actions. Dr. Bonner then implored the trustees to defy the Convention’s segregationist stance: “Don’t let us down!” His impassioned appeal won the day. On February 2, 1965, four African-Americans enrolled at Furman. Three were graduate students in education; the other was freshman Joe Vaughn.

Vaughn proved to be a model student. An English major, he excelled in class, served as head cheerleader, coordinated important campus forums, and volunteered in the Service Corps. Witty and outgoing, he made friends quickly and easily. His smile was like a beam of sunlight; it radiated warmth and joy.

In 1985, at an event marking the 20th anniversary of integration at Furman, Vaughn reflected on his experience: “It was the marriage made in heaven. I was good for Furman University and vice versa. Without Furman, I might have been just another underprivileged black kid going nowhere.” To be sure, there were risks involved in being a pathfinder. “Luckily,” he recalled, there were no ugly incidents; “there was not even any mental violence.”

After graduating from Furman, Vaughn went on to earn master’s degrees from the University of South Carolina and the University of Georgia. From 1969 to 1982 he taught in the Greenville County schools, and in 1981 he was elected president of the South Carolina Education Association, a position he held for almost a decade. He died in 1991, having contracted inoperable cancer.

Vaughn’s family and friends have established a scholarship at Furman in his name. It is awarded each year to a student who demonstrates financial need, exemplifies high moral character and shows academic promise. It is as much a tribute to the determination of President Blackwell and Dean Bonner as it is to Joe Vaughn. As Vaughn said at the anniversary banquet, “Thanks to all who believed in what was right, and to those who did what was right."