Houstonian: Brick dedication ceremony to honor first black student admitted to SHSU

From the Houstonian:

The president and vice president for Student Services and the office of student activities will have a commemorative brick dedication ceremony in the Alumni Garden today at 2 p.m. This event honors John A. Patrick, the first African-American student admitted to SHSU in 1964 and recognizes the importance of SHSU's history.

Although Patrick died, his family and friends from NAACP will give a speech about his accomplishments to the society and education

Tiffany Flenoy, program coordinator, expects this event will be something that has never done before at SHSU. She imagines people did not react positively to Patrick and Sam Houston State was aim for a higher education only for the majority of people at that time.

"He opened the door of the opportunity for the African-American students to attend school," said Flenoy.

Others recognize the importance of his remembrance. "As a black student at SHSU, we sometimes forget about our history," said Prince Myles. "I've never learned about him, but I can only imagine how difficult it was for him at that time. It gives me not only a sense of where I'm going, but also stuff to identify who we are."