Gary
Lavergne is a veteran guest and commentator on almost every major network and
cable news show. Click
here
to see a list of his past appearances. He is also noted for
his sharp wit. Click
here
for just a few of his more memorable quotes.
U.S. Supreme Court Case
Fisher v University of Texas draws attention to Before Brown and the story of Heman
Marion Sweatt.
AUSTIN (KXAN) - It has been 14 years since Gary Lavergne wrote the book
“A Sniper in the Tower.”
With the country’s eyes focused on the movie theater shooting in Aurora,
CO, Lavergne’s book details every known movement of Charles Whitman in
the days leading up to the Texas Tower shooting.
A crime that set the precedent for mass murder in a public place like the
one that happened Friday.
“The University of Texas tower shooting in 1966 was America’s
introduction to mass murder as we think of it today.” Click
here to read more
Spring Issue of the TSCHS
E-Journal Now Available
Issue 3 of the Society's new e-journal was distributed to members in late
February. It features the second half of David Furlow's article on the
Castiian influence on Texas law as
well as an article on the Sweatt v. Painter desegregation case by Gary
Lavergne. His article begins on
page 17.
Gary is presented with the
prestigious Heman Sweatt Symposium Award of Appreciation...
Gary Lavergne received Heman Sweatt
Symposium Award of Appreciation for Before Brown. The award was
presented on February 8, 2012 during the opening ceremonies by Dr. Greg
Vincent, Vice President for Diversity and Community Engagement, in John
Hargis Hall at The University of Texas at Austin.
Before Brown
Awarded the Writers' League of Texas Award for Best Book of Non Fiction
With over 200 entries, the 2011 Writers'
League of Texas Book Awards Contest was more competitive than ever before.
A big congratulations to the four winners below! The WLT will recognize
the winners at our January Third Thursday meeting at 7 p.m. on Thursday,
January 19 at BookPeople in Austin.
On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr.
speaks with Gary M. Lavergne, author of Before Brown: Heman Marion Sweatt,
Thurgood Marshall and the Long Road To Justice. On February 26, 1946, a
33-year-old African American mail carrier from Houston, TX applied for
admission to the University of Texas School of Law. Although he met all of
the school’s academic qualifications, Heman Marion Sweatt was denied
admission because of his race. He challenged the university’s decision in
court, and the resulting case, Sweatt v. Painter, went to the U.S. Supreme
Court, which ruled in Sweatt’s favor. The Sweatt case paved the way for
the landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka rulings that finally
opened the doors to higher education for all African Americans and
desegregated public education in this country.
34th Annual LASE/LASS Joint Conference
"What Goes Around: 25 Years of Strateegeery"
Keynote Address by Gary M. Lavergne, Author and Educator and Director of
Admissions Research at the University of Texas at Austin
Sunday, 2:30pm, November 13, 2011
Crowne Plaza Hotel Executive Center
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Integration and Race Relations in Texas
Wednesday, June 22, 7 p.m.
Texas Spirit Theater
FREE
Come to the fabulous Texas History Museum for an intimate evening of
presentation, discussion, and dialogue as we explore the critical issues
of integration and race relations as seen in law, education, and sports in
Texas. Presentations will focus on the legal case Sweatt v. Painter that
integrated the law school at UT Austin, and Texas high school football's
segregated Prairie View Interscholastic League.
The discussion will be moderated by
Jennifer Stayton, Morning Edition Host for KUT.
Panel Presentations:
Learning from the Prairie View Interscholastic League
Robert Brown, Board Chair, Prairie View Interscholastic League Coaches'
Association
A Lesson in Democracy: The Story of Heman Marion Sweatt
Gary Lavergne, author Before Brown: Heman Marion Sweatt, Thurgood
Marshall, and the Long Road to Justice
Moderator:
Jennifer Stayton, Morning Edition Host, KUT RADIO, Austin, TX
Dallas — UL alumnus Gary Lavergne’s
account of the struggle to desegregate the University of Texas law school,
Before Brown: Heman Marion Sweatt, Thurgood Marshall and the Long Road to
Justice was the top winner for nonfiction at the Texas Institute of
Letters’ (TIL) awards banquet Saturday, April 30, 2011...
See the Cedar Park Citizencoverage of the
Collins Award and Tullis Prize... “It was a
beautifully crafted account of a case that set extremely important
precedent,” said Rico Ainslie, Carr P. Collins Award committee chair for
the Texas Institute of Letters. “The research and craftsmanship and the
writing was quite exceptional.”
April 30, 2011
Before Brown
Awarded the Carr P. Collins Award for Best Work of Non Fiction at
the Annual Awards Banquet of the Texas Institute of Letters...
The Carr P. Collins Award is awarded annually to the best
non-fiction book published during the calendar year. This year the awards
banquet was held on April 30th in Dallas.
March 4, 2011
Before Brown
Awarded the Coral Horton Tullis Memorial Prize for Best Book on Texas
History at the Annual Meeting of the Texas State Historical Association
The Tullis Memorial Prize is awarded annually to the best
book on Texas published during the calendar year. This year the awards
banquet was held on March 4th in El Paso.
February 14, 2011 -- Gary Lavergne
appears on the Dr. Alvin Jones Radio Show. You can hear it at:
A Texas admissions expert tells the long-forgotten tale of
a pioneer in integration
By Eric Hoover
Austin, Tex.
"Long before James Meredith became the first black man to
enroll at the University of Mississippi, before a handful of black
college students started a sit-in at a Woolworth's lunch counter in
Greensboro, N.C., and before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a
bus in Montgomery, Ala., a 33-year-old mail carrier walked into the
registrar's office at the University of Texas. His name was Heman Marion
Sweatt, and he sought admission to the university's law school. He might
as well have chosen to walk into a hurricane...."