Virgil D˳ Hawkins
11/11/1906-2/11/1988
In April 1949, Virgil D˳ Hawkins, a former faculty member of Bethune Cookman College, applied for admission to the University of Florida’s law school˳ He was academically eligible and possessed appropriate life experience qualifications˳
However, the long road to achieving his goal of becoming a lawyer would force him to persevere for nine more years and overcome Florida’s Jim Crow laws that racially segregated its state universities˳ His journey would eventually open the doors of Florida’s public universities to African Americans, although not to him˳
In May of 1949, the University of Florida, through the Florida Board of Control (later Board of Regents), denied his admission (as well as five other African-American graduate school applicants) based solely upon race˳ Mr˳ Hawkins sought relief through the Florida Supreme Court˳ The Court acknowledged that he possessed “all the scholastic, moral and other qualifications except as to race and color” for admission (State ex rel˳ Hawkins, 47 So˳ 2d 608, 609 (Fla˳ 1950))˳ He did not prevail due to the Court’s finding that under the Equal Protection Clause, Florida could pay for his legal education in a different state or Florida would build a law school for black students [at Florida A&M University]˳
In 1954, the United States Supreme Court ordered the public schools desegregated “with all deliberate speed” by 1956 in Brown v˳ Board of Education and in a companion decision ordered the University of Florida to admit Virgil Hawkins˳ However, Virgil Hawkins was still not admitted to the University of Florida˳ Petitioning for his admission to the University of Florida College of Law, Mr˳ Hawkins eventually went before the Florida Supreme Court three times and the United States Supreme Court twice˳ After the U˳S˳ Supreme Court ordered Florida to immediately enroll him in 1957, the Florida Supreme Court concluded that federal law could be superseded by state law in some instances (the now-discredited “interposition” doctrine) Florida Supreme Court Oral Argument Press Summaries (see public information summaries, oral argument 5-99)˳
In 1958, Hawkins withdrew his application in exchange for a court order desegregating UF’s graduate and professional schools˳ On September 15, 1958, George Starke was admitted to the College of Law, UF’s first African-American law student˳ Mr˳ Hawkins’ efforts to desegregate UF law school led the way for the desegregation of the entire State University System in Florida˳ In 1962, W˳ George Allen became the first African-American to graduate from the University of Florida College of Law˳
Mr˳ Hawkins eventually received his J˳D˳ 27 years after first applying to the University of Florida˳ Upon graduation he stated his goal was to offer legal assistance to “people, just barely making a living who don’t qualify for legal aid, but still can’t afford to hire an attorney˳” In 1976, he appeared before the Florida Board of Bar Examiners˳ His application to take the Florida Bar Examination had been denied because the Massachusetts law school from which he had graduated was not accredited by the American Bar Association, a formerly segregated organization˳ After a successful appeal, at the age of 69 Mr˳ Hawkins took his oath of office and became a member of The Florida Bar by special waiver˳
After years of serving the poor and under-represented in Lake County, Mr˳ Hawkins was brought before the Bar on ethics charges˳ At the time, some felt his advanced years and the lapse of time since his education led to errors in his professional judgment˳ Others would agree that his civil rights work and his historical involvement with Florida’s desegregation did not help his cause˳ Unable to afford a lawyer and facing discipline, Hawkins resigned from the Bar in 1985˳ Three years later, at age 81, Mr˳ Hawkins died˳ Soon thereafter, attorney Harley Herman, who had worked in the Civil Clinics with Professor Peters, petitioned for Mr˳ Hawkins’ reinstatement (The Florida Bar, In re Virgil Darnell Hawkins, 532 So˳2d 669 (Fla˳ 1988))˳
Harley Herman, who had served as the Executive Director of the Virgil Hawkins Civil Rights Foundation, campaigned for more than a decade to publicly honor the Civil Rights pioneer˳ His dedication to Mr˳ Hawkins’ cause has resulted in a number of successes in garnering attention and recognition of the importance of Mr˳ Hawkins’ struggle˳ The Florida Supreme Court, making him a Florida attorney before the “Bar of Heaven”, posthumously reinstated Virgil D˳ Hawkins’ bar membership˳ The action was credited as the world’s first posthumous bar reinstatement˳ In 1989 Governor Bob Martinez signed into law a bill, which named the UF’s civil legal clinics in honor of Mr˳ Hawkins˳ Professor Don Peters, founder and 30-year director of the civil clinics, oversaw the naming of the clinics to the Virgil Darnell Hawkins Civil Legal Clinics˳ See also The Florida Bar re: Virgil Darnell Hawkins, Opinion No˳ 72,240 (filed October 20, 1988)˳
On May 25, 1999, the Florida Supreme Court sat in special ceremonial session in response to a request by Florida’s NAACP chapters to publicly honor the 50th anniversary of one of its landmark cases: Florida’s first desegregation lawsuit, State ex rel˳ Hawkins, 47 So˳ 2d 608, 609 (Fla˳ 1950)˳ After viewing the documentary narrated by former Congresswoman Barbara Jordan covering in detail Virgil D˳ Hawkins’ story, Major B˳ Harding, Florida’s chief justice, looked squarely at the audience and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, you have heard about a regrettable and poignant moment in the jurisprudential history of this Court˳ We must learn from the lessons taught ˳ ˳ ˳ hatred and discrimination will not triumph˳” In 2001, UF awarded its first posthumous honorary degree in its 150-year history to Mr˳ Hawkins, with the unanimous consent of the Faculty Senate and the Board of Regents˳
