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[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 194 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 194

  Congratulating the 1963 men's basketball team of Loyola University 
 Chicago on its induction into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall 
    of Fame, the 50th anniversary of the team's Division I National 
Collegiate Athletic Association men's basketball championship, and the 
    team's historic NCAA tournament game against Mississippi State 
                              University.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 10, 2013

    Mr. Kirk (for himself, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Cochran, and Mr. Wicker) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                            on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
  Congratulating the 1963 men's basketball team of Loyola University 
 Chicago on its induction into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall 
    of Fame, the 50th anniversary of the team's Division I National 
Collegiate Athletic Association men's basketball championship, and the 
    team's historic NCAA tournament game against Mississippi State 
                              University.

Whereas, in 1963, Coach George Ireland led the men's basketball team of Loyola 
        University Chicago (referred to in this preamble as the ``Ramblers'') to 
        the Division I National Collegiate Athletic Association (referred to in 
        this preamble as the ``NCAA'') men's basketball championship;
Whereas the Ramblers lost only 2 games during the 1962-1963 season and led the 
        Nation in scoring with an average of 91.8 points per game;
Whereas Coach Ireland and the Loyola University men's basketball teams of the 
        early 1960s are considered by many to be responsible for ushering in a 
        new era of racial equality in the sport by shattering major racial 
        barriers in NCAA men's basketball;
Whereas, in 1963, the Ramblers shocked the Nation and changed college basketball 
        forever by starting 4 African-American players in the NCAA tournament, 
        as well as the championship game;
Whereas it is difficult to appreciate what Coach Ireland and his team went 
        through, starting in 1961, in breaking what had been a longstanding 
        ``gentleman's agreement'' to play not more than 3 African-American 
        players;
Whereas, during the 1962-1963 season, Coach Ireland started 4 African-American 
        players in every game, and, in December 1962, the Ramblers became the 
        first team in NCAA Division I history to have an all-African-American 
        lineup in a game against the University of Wyoming;
Whereas, despite their success during the 1962-1963 season, the players and 
        Coach Ireland endured terrible bigotry, including racial taunts and 
        abuse, and received countless pieces of hate mail from the Ku Klux Klan 
        and other racist individuals, and all the while Coach Ireland tried to 
        shield his team in every way possible;
Whereas the men's basketball team of Mississippi State University (referred to 
        in this preamble as the ``Maroons'' and now called the ``Bulldogs'') won 
        its second consecutive southeastern conference championship in 1963, but 
        had been forced by the Governor of Mississippi not to accept NCAA 
        tournament bids in the 3 previous seasons because of the inclusion of 
        African-American players in the tournament;
Whereas, before advancing to the championship round, the Ramblers participated 
        in the NCAA Midwest regional semifinal against the Maroons, a landmark 
        game often referred to half a century later as the ``Game of Change'';
Whereas Mississippi State University president Dean Colvard and athletic 
        director and men's basketball coach James Harrison ``Babe'' McCarthy 
        bravely accepted the Maroons' 1963 NCAA tournament invitation against 
        the wishes of the Governor of Mississippi;
Whereas, determined to play in the regional semifinal, the Maroons snuck out of 
        Mississippi in the middle of the night to avoid an injunction, and the 
        integrated Ramblers and the all-white Maroons met on the basketball 
        court at Michigan State University on March 15, 1963;
Whereas, with police surrounding the sports complex in East Lansing, Michigan, 
        the Ramblers went on to defeat the Maroons in a competitive game by a 
        score of 61 to 51 in the regional semifinal, a game that changed race 
        relations on the basketball court forever and was selected by the NCAA 
        in 2006 as one of the 25 defining moments in the first 100 years of the 
        organization;
Whereas the Ramblers went on to win games against the University of Illinois and 
        Duke University before defeating the 2-time defending NCAA champion 
        University of Cincinnati in overtime by a score of 60 to 58, the 
        crowning achievement in Loyola University Chicago's nearly decade-long 
        struggle with racial inequality in men's college basketball, highlighted 
        by the tumultuous events of the 1963 NCAA tournament;
Whereas the Ramblers' 1963 NCAA title was historic not only for the racial 
        makeup of the Ramblers, but also because the University of Cincinnati 
        had started 3 African-American players, making 7 of the 10 starters in 
        the 1963 NCAA championship game African-American;
Whereas the city of Chicago has many storied sports teams, but the Ramblers 
        basketball team of 1963 and Coach Ireland hold an exalted place because 
        they are the only NCAA Division I Illinois basketball team to win a 
        national championship and because they paved the way for the long 
        overdue integration of races in college basketball before the enactment 
        of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Public Law 88-352; 78 Stat. 241);
Whereas all 5 starting players from the national championship game graduated 
        from Loyola University with a degree, and several went on to earn 
        advanced degrees in law and business;
Whereas the journey of the Ramblers is not just the story of an underdog team 
        overcoming great odds to beat the favored team from the University of 
        Cincinnati, a much larger basketball program that held the number 1 
        ranking and had won the previous 2 national championships;
Whereas the real significance of Coach Ireland and the Ramblers is the lasting 
        impact of their bravery in breaking the racial barrier in college 
        basketball that had been allowed to prevail for decades; and
Whereas the 2013 Hall of Fame induction season will mark the 50th anniversary of 
        the 1963 Ramblers' basketball championship, making the 1963 Ramblers the 
        first whole team ever to be honored in the Hall of Fame: Now, therefore, 
        be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) congratulates Coach George Ireland and the 1963 Loyola 
        University Chicago men's basketball championship team on their 
        induction into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame;
            (2) honors the 50th anniversary of the historic Division I 
        National Collegiate Athletic Association championship of the 
        Loyola University Chicago men's basketball team and the 
        profound athletic and civil rights achievements of the 1963 
        team; and
            (3) honors the 1963 Mississippi State University men's 
        basketball team for their bravery and sportsmanship in 
        rejecting racism and aiding in the civil rights movement in the 
        State of Mississippi and the southeastern United States.
                                 <all>
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