Allen Ballard

[4][1] He graduated from Central High School and became one of the first two African American students (with Stanley Jackson) at Kenyon College in 1948.

[5] In 1973, Ballard wrote of his struggle to integrate Kenyon: "We were, in fact, forced to suppress our natural inner selves.... For eighteen hours a day our manners, speech, style, and walking were on trial before white America....Social life revolved around fraternities from which we were automatically excluded.

"[6] After graduating from Kenyon in 1952 and then serving in the Army, including a tour at Supreme Allied Headquarters in Paris, Ballard enrolled in Harvard University's Soviet Union Regional Studies Program in 1955 as only its second Black student.

[3] Although SEEK (Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge) was officially designated as an anti-poverty program, it quickly ended racial exclusion in CUNY admissions.

[11] By the Fall of 1968, SEEK had grown to support over active 1800 students across CUNY, with an annual budget of $3.5 million.