University of Southern Mississippi

Desegregation and civil rights ===
In 1954 the United States Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that segregation of public schools was unconstitutional. But when Clyde Kennard, a black Korean War veteran, attempted to enroll at Mississippi Southern College in the late 1950s, USM President William McCain made major efforts with the state political establishment and local black leaders to prevent it. Kennard was turned down three times. After he wrote letters about educational integration to the local paper, he was twice arrested on trumped-up criminal charges; he was eventually convicted and sentenced to seven years in the state prison.
McCain's direct involvement in this abuse of the justice system is unclear. He was likely aware that the charges against Kennard were fraudulent, but neither he nor other public officials made any objection. Speaking to businessmen in Chicago on a trip sponsored by the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, McCain said: "We insist that educationally and socially, …