Dean Colvard

Dean Wallace Colvard (July 10, 1913 – June 28, 2007) is a former president of Mississippi State University, notable for his role in a 1963 controversy surrounding the participation of the university's basketball team in the NCAA Tournament.

Born in North Carolina, Colvard received his B.A. Degree from Berea College, and followed that up by getting his M.A. Degree from the University of Missouri. He then went to Purdue University and received his Ph.D. in science and mathematics. Colvard attended college for a total of 19 years, from 1931 until 1950.

After serving as the Dean of Agriculture at North Carolina State University, Colvard became president of Mississippi State University. He arrived in 1960, when Mississippi had an "unwritten law" against integrated collegiate athletics. This meant that no team from Mississippi could accept an invitation to play against any team that had African Americans on it. The rule came into effect after 1955, when Jones County Junior College accepted the invitation to the Junior Rose Bowl against a team of mixed race from Compton, California.

During the eight-year existence of the "unwritten law", no team confronted it more than the MSU Maroons basketball team. The Maroons (now known as Bulldogs) won three SEC titles between 1959 and 1962, and by winning the title they were granted an invitation to the integrated NCAA Tournament. MSU turned down each offer because of the "unwritten law", and were not able to participate in postseason play because of this.

Babe McCarthy, the head basketball coach at MSU, expressed frustration at having his team excluded from the postseason tournament each year. Many claimed that the state of Mississippi was acting as a "closed society". McCarthy pleaded on his talk show to have his players allowed to play in postseason play during the 1963 season.

"It makes me sick to the heart to think that these players, who just clinched no worse than a tie for their third straight SEC championship, will have to put away their uniforms and not compete in the NCAA tournament… This is all I can say, but I think everyone knows how I feel," McCarthy said.

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