Julius Whittier Breaks the “Color Line” at the University of Texas (September 30, 2025)
by Scott Sosebee
Last week this space delved into how John Hill Westbrook became the first African American football player at Baylor and integrated the Southwest Conference (SWC). This week, it will examine how another pioneer African American player became the first football player at the University of Texas, the most visible and largest of Texas’ institutions of higher learning at the time. Whittier’s efforts helped to pave the way for a longer tradition of athletes at the flagship university in Austin. After all, when the Longhorns won the national championship in 1969, the one-hundredth anniversary of college football in the United States, they had the “distinction” of being the last college team to achieve that mark with not a single African American on the roster.
Maybe Darrell Royal knew that after his 1969 national championship that he finally had to integrate his team. Maybe, as Royal often commented, that winning that year gave him “cover” for finally signing an African American player, although it must be said that Royal—despite his later protestations—actively avoided any mention of or movement against the racial standards of his day. He constantly maintained until his death that it was UT’s administration who kept his teams segregated. Whatever the reasons, the fact is that the University of Texas was the last SWC team to integrate when they signed Julius Whittier in 1969.
Royal made a show of potentially signing Warren McVea of San Antonio (who went on to star at the University of Houston) in 1964, although McVea claimed that Royal’s and UT’s interest was just for show and they had no intention of making him a Longhorn. More than a turn in conscience, it was more than likely the fact that Royal’s Longhorn teams had three straight 6-4 years in 1965, 1966, and 1967 that led him to make a decision to begin to recruit Black players, particularly when, in 1966, he saw Jerry LeVias make SMU—a doormat for years—appreciably better. Royal had tried to sign Mike Williams of El Paso in 1967, but Williams’ low academic scores kept him out. That was another barrier that Royal leaned into over the years—and continued to claim even after he began to sign African American players—that UT’s academic standards prevented him from signing African American players. Others—such as John Hill Westbrook and Jerry LeVias among others—stated that they had no interest in enrolling at the University of Texas because of the school’s reputation as a hotbed of racism.
Royal finally broke the color line at UT when he signed Julius Whittier. Whittier, a star at San Antonio Highlands High School, came from a solid middle-class background. His father, Oncy, was a physician and mother, Lorriane, a public-school teacher. They were both also civil rights activists. That last fact was likely why and how Julius ended up at UT. His father and mother hid his recruiting letters from him—he had received more than a hundred—and then gave him only one: the letter from the University of Texas. Whittier, at just 5’10’ and about 190 pounds had played offensive line and linebacker in high school, and at UT he became a standout offensive guard, and later played some tight end. Whittier spent the 1969 national championship year on the Freshman team (according to NCAA rules at the time Freshmen were ineligible for the varsity), so he did not make his debut until 1970. In three seasons at UT he was a solid performer, helping the team to a 20-1 record in those years in the SWC (they only lost to Arkansas in 1971) and a 28-5 record overall.
Whittier was also an excellent student at the school, earning a BA in Philosophy. He would go on to receive an MA in Public Affairs from UT in 1976, and a law degree from there in 1980. His solid playing career was certainly impressive, but his biggest legacy was how he opened doors for Black players in the rest of the 1970s. It was directly through Whittier’s advice and promise to be a mentor that convinced Lonnie Bennet to sign with the team in 1970. Both Roosevelt Leaks—UT’s first “star” Black player—and Donald Ealey, who signed in 1971, also attributed their willingness to come to Austin to Whittier. Finally, another African American player you may have heard of, a Tyler running back named Earl Campbell, said that the presence of Julius Whittier played a large role in his signing with the University of Texas in 1972.
Other Black athletes signed with other SWC schools between Westbrook, LeVias, and Whittier. Texas A&M added walk-on Sammy Williams to their roster in 1967, and Linzy Cole signed with TCU in 1968. Danny Hardaway, also in 1968, signed with Texas Tech. Mike Tyler enrolled at Rice in that same year. It was a slow dribble, but by 1985, African Americans comprised 65% of the conference’s players. The legacy of integration in the Southwest Conference is one that highlights the years of struggle and prejudice that African Americans suffered in Texas and the rest of the South. Some chroniclers, pundits, and scholars have attributed some of the success of overcoming segregation in the South to sports. I’m not so sure that is warranted; the Southwest Conference was a prime example of the fact that sports did not lead in integration, and only grudgingly did so when it became obvious that they could no longer continue to exclude African Americans from participation.
The East Texas Historical Association provides this column as a public service. Scott Sosebee is a Professor of History at Stephen F. Austin State University and the Executive Director of the Association. He can be contacted at sosebeem@sfasu.edu or via www.easttexashistorical.org.