Aftermath

The Syracuse 8 were part of an historic wave of student activism in American colleges and universities during the late 1960s to early 1970s. Syracuse University students protested the Vietnam War, notably in the May 1970 Student Strike, and Black students’ activism on campus brought about curriculum, enrollment and other changes. The Syracuse 8 boycotted the football program to prevent other Syracuse University student-athletes from experiencing the institutional racism they encountered during their time on campus. The courageous stand peacefully made by Allen ‘73, Bulls, Godbolt, Harrell ‘71 G‘73, Lobon ‘73, McGill ‘72, Muhammad ‘71, Walker ‘80, and Womack ‘71 did result in change at Syracuse University, though not immediately.

Slow Change

In the January 1971 meeting of the Board of Trustees’ Executive Committee, Chancellor Corbally focused on just one recommendation from the Trustee, Faculty and Student Committee report. The Trustees chose not to respond to the report itself but assigned a special committee to review the recommendation about restructuring the Administrative Board on Athletics. A month later, the Executive Committee passed a resolution to form a new Athletic Policy Board. Comprising administrators, faculty, alumni, and students, this board was established and provided a better conduit for handling student-athlete grievances.

By spring 1971 Chancellor Corbally had resigned, though he and Dr. John L. Johnson had ensured all the boycotting student-athletes would keep their athletic scholarships. Greg Allen and John Lobon were the only members of the Syracuse 8 to return to the Syracuse University football team. However, while many of them had been considered excellent prospects for professional football, they were blackballed by professional football leagues in the United States and Canada because of their activism.

Named Eastern Coach of the Year for the 1970 season, Ben Schwartzwalder continued coaching football at Syracuse University until he retired in 1973. Among the first actions taken by new head coach Frank Maloney in 1974 was to add Bill Spencer, a Black assistant coach from Cornell University, to his coaching staff. Spencer played a significant role in recruiting Art Monk ‘80, a Black student-athlete who became one of Syracuse’s football greats. In an interview with author David Marc, Monk remarked on how different his experience on the football team was in comparison to that of the Syracuse 8: “There was never any name-calling or anything like that. I’ve been asked about this before, and I can tell you that there wasn’t even any kind of subtle hint of racism that I could pick up….I never knew anything about the Syracuse Eight during my entire time as a student at Syracuse. The first time I ever even heard of them was at a reunion in 2005….I suppose in one way that’s good because it shows how different a place Syracuse had become in such a short time. But in another way, it’s kind of a shame. I had no idea for all those years of how much I owe those guys, and how much everyone owes them, for the sacrifices they made.”