Stephen C. O'Connell

Infobox Person
name = Stephen C. O'Connell

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image_size = 250px
caption =
birth_date = January 12, 1916
birth_place = West Palm Beach, Florida
death_date = April 14, 2001
education = Bachelors degree and Law degree from the University of Florida
occupation = Administrator
Attorney
spouse = Rita Mavis McTigue
Cynthia O'Connell

Stephen C. O'Connell was the ninth President of the University of Florida, and the first graduate of the University to serve as its President.

O'Connell earned his bachelor's and law degrees from the University of Florida, where he was a star athlete and campus leader including serving as the student body president during his studies. After practicing law for several years, he stopped to serve his country in World War II.

In 1955, O'Connell was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court, where he served as a justice until being named president of the University of Florida in 1967. He safely led the University through a turbulent period of anti-war and racial protests. He retired in 1973.

Between 1946 and 1958, 85 blacks students applied to the University of Florida, all were denied admission.

In 1957 while serving on the Florida Supreme Court, justice Stephen O'Connell concurred with the court's decision to deny Virgil Hawkins's request to attend the University of Florida. Virgil Hawkins was a black man who brought his case before the Florida Supreme Court 5 times.

The Stephen C. O'Connell Center, on the campus of the University of Florida, is named for him.

External links

* [http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/ufdc/?g=foto&m=hrbh&t=connell Photos of Stephen C. O'Connell and the O'Connell Center] from the University of Florida Digital Collections

References

* [http://www.president.ufl.edu/pastPres/oconnell.htm University of Florida: Stephen C. O'Connell]

Images of the O'Connell Center

ee also

*Stephen C. O'Connell Center