Conella Coulter was one of the first students of color admitted to the University of Kansas City (nowUniversity of Missouri-Kansas City) in 1949. Coulter Brown turns 90 years old this month and will be the honorary guest at the Black Alumni Weekend Welcome Reception on Friday, Oct. 2.
The UMKC Black Alumni Weekend will take place on Friday, Oct. 2 and Saturday, Oct. 3 at various locations on campus. The goal of the UMKC Black Alumni Weekend Committee is to create an event for Black Alumni to connect, network and engage with each other, as well as meeting the next generation of Roos – our current students.
Clarence Decker, who was then chancellor of the UKC, challenged the Board to admit students of color. Coulter Brown read in the Kansas City Call that UKC was accepting Negroes and applied. While she felt high school had not properly prepared her for the rigors of college, she fought hard for her grades.
Graduating in 1953 with a degree in history and unable to get a teaching position in Kansas City due to her race, Coulter Brown moved to Cleveland, where she served as a classroom teacher, assistant principal, assistant supervisor of human resources and retired as assistant superintendent of the Cleveland Public Schools.
Reviewed 2015-09-24