Julius Whittier

"He Came Betore Us. He Left a Legacy" Julius Whittier (Texas Football: 1969-72) became a historically significant figure as the first African American to receive a four-year tooiball scholarship, and the first to letter in toorball al Texas. A star student-athlete at San Antonio's Highlands High School, he was identified during the recruiting process as a young man he could handle the enormous pressure and public attention that would come with beine a prominent African American student-athlete at The University of Texas. A standout on the treshman team in 1969, Whittier cared three letters trom 1970-72 and played on three-straight Southwest Conference Championship teams, including the Longhorns 1970 National Championship squad. He was inducted into the Texas Ainletics Hall of Honor in 2013. Whittier never saw himsell as a maverick, but more as pan ot a team that exhibited greatness on the field and off. He considered his legendary coach, Darrell Royal, his “dad from another pad," in that Royal was a disciplinarian who presented a fair opportunity to those who understood his goals, Whinier marmed, benetted tom that discipline, and developed as a football plaver and person. Although athletics was Whither's passion, he looked beyond that in the pursuit of knowledge. Alter graduating with a degree in philosophy, at the urging of Royal's triend, President Lyndon Baines Johnson, he earned a degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs, and a UT law degree, He went on to a distinguished legal career as a prosecutor in the Dallas County District Attorney’s office. Whinier left a legacy that reflected a pioneer, whose perseverance opened the door, not only for himself, but for those who followed.

Submitted by Chi C.