The Students Pick

The Alpha Kappa girls at the University of Illinois almost decided against nominating a candidate for Homecoming Queen, the highest student social honor. "Why waste our time?" was their argument. Alpha Kappa is a Negro sorority.

Hope, however, prevailed, and Alpha Kappa nominated Clarice Clotilde Davis. Clarice won, the first Negro girl to receive this honor at a predominantly white U.S. university.* Said she: "I know that it won't be me standing there. It is a symbol of something we've always worked for... Our school has had the reputation of being the most prejudiced of all the Big Ten schools. Now all these impressions are broken. I'm thrilled." Last week at Homecoming, Clarice was crowned by Charles Studley, captain of Illinois' topflight football team. Said she: "Maybe some voted for me because I was just Clarice. I hope so."

*In 1949, Montreal's McGill University elected Beryl Dickinson-Dash, a Negro, its winter carnival queen.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.