University of Florida Law School Celebrates 50 Years of Integration: Virgil Hawkins never reached the promised land in his attempt to gain admission to the University of Florida law school, but he was honored Wednesday as a trailblazer in the fight to open the school’s doors to minority students.
UF’s Levin College of Law celebrated the work of Hawkins and other pioneers in its Constitution Day observance Wednesday as it marked the 50th anniversary of integration at Florida’s flagship university, where more than 12,000 Blacks have graduated as part of his legacy.
Hawkins waged a nine-year legal battle to attend Florida’s law school and included five trips to the Florida Supreme Court and four trips through the U.S. Supreme Court.
Hawkins, who died in 1988 at the age of 81, never was able to attend the University of Florida. As part of an agreement to desegregate the state’s universities in 1958, Hawkins agreed to withdraw his application to attend the UF Law School.
