When he died in late March at age 87, Chase had achieved an admirable list of “firsts” among African-Americans. Easily the most significant, observers say, was him being the first to enroll as a graduate student in 1950 at the University of Texas at Austin in the wake of a historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling that essentially ordered public colleges to admit African-Americans to its graduate-level and professional programs.
“He was a true pioneer and a giant,” says Leslie Cedar, chief executive officer and executive director of Texas Exes, the UT alumni association. She described Chase, who was chosen in 1998 as Texas Exes president, as “graceful and humble.”
