1949 Sun Bowl controversy
[1] Just four days later, on November 23, the Lafayette faculty voted to turn down the bid because the Sun Bowl Committee would not allow Showell to play.
[4] Penn State's two African American players, Wallace Triplett and Dennis Hoggard, would not have been able to participate due to local (Florida) police department rules, and the "incidents" that were expected to occur if they were allowed to play.
Led by captain Danny Kovacs and standout running back David Showell, the team had a record of seven wins and two losses.
[11][12] On November 23, 1948, the Lafayette College faculty held a meeting to vote upon whether or not to accept the football team's invitation to the Sun Bowl.
[13] The Lafayette students, who were excited to see their football team go to the Sun Bowl, were disheartened by the announcement and made it their goal to discover the reason behind the school's abrupt change in plans.
[14] At approximately seven o'clock on the night of November 23, the news began to spread around the Lafayette campus as a caravan of students traversed the school grounds to recruit more protesters.
[15] This bonfire was previously constructed for a pep rally to be held before the football game against Lafayette's rival, Lehigh University, but was never used due to a rain storm.
Upon their arrival, President Hutchison told the students that David Showell was not invited to play in the bowl game because he was an African American.
[1][13] Athletic Director Bill Anderson, who had arrived at Hutchison's house, agreed to place a call to C. D. Belding, the chairman of the Sun Bowl Committee in El Paso, Texas.
[1] Upon hearing that the answer was still "No" over 1000 frustrated Lafayette students marched to the Centre Square in downtown Easton and held a protest rally against racial intolerance.
[16] A number of students rushed to the local Western Union office to wire the news of their protests to prominent individuals to denounce the Sun Bowl Committee's refusal to include Showell.
The press conveyed conflicting accounts as to why Lafayette College turned down the invitation to play the 1949 Sun Bowl against the Texas Miners.
Lafayette College officials maintained that their rejection of the invitation was due in large part to the discrimination against the team's black football player, David Showell, saying that Texas law forbade the halfback's participation in the New Year's Day bowl game.
"[19] According to another newspaper article, Sun Bowl Committee chairman, C. D. Belding, offered another side of the story refuting President Hutchison's claims and stating that Lafayette College jumped to a conclusion too soon.
An article by The Corsicana Daily Sun on November 24, 1948, stated that the law in question only required Negro players to have a separate lodging.
"[18] In other articles, more focus was placed on the fact that Sun Bowl officials reached out to other schools of interest upon receiving Lafayette College's original rejection of the bid.
Finally on October 27, 1950, officials took a vote that allowed the Texas college to include black players in games at the El Paso location.
