蜜柚直播

Among those debutantes was 蜜柚直播 High鈥檚 Jacquenese Barnes, the city鈥檚 first Black cheerleader at any level. She was escorted by her former THS classmate and future husband Delano Price, captain of the Badgers鈥� 1969 state championship basketball team.

鈥淒ick Clausen was an agent of change,鈥� Jacque Barnes Price says now. 鈥淗e had foresight and focus to help create a more inclusive culture in 蜜柚直播. He introduced himself to me and said, 鈥業鈥檓 here to tell you about an opportunity to try out for our cheerleading squad.鈥欌��

After several minutes, Clausen shook hands with Jacque and said, 鈥淚 look forward to seeing you again.鈥�

That long-ago night at the Pioneer Hotel has become a significant moment in the UA athletic department鈥檚 celebration of Black History Month.

Clausen鈥檚 trail-blazing efforts helped integrate the athletic department.

In 1969, Clausen hired Willie Willliams, a Black high school track coach from Los Angeles, to be the first Black head coach of any sport at a Division I school. Clausen would not forget about young Jacque Barnes.

A few months after the Cotillion Ball, unannounced, Clausen drove to the Barnes鈥� home west of the UA campus. He knocked on the door.

鈥淲hat can I do for you?鈥� Jacque said.

鈥淚 noticed that you didn鈥檛 try out for the Pomline or the cheerleading squad,鈥� he said. 鈥淚s there anything I can do?鈥�

One of the reasons Jacque didn鈥檛 attend on-campus tryouts was because she didn鈥檛 have access to the music and choreography about 100 other cheerleader-hopefuls did.

鈥淚 want to level the playing field,鈥� Clausen told her, reaching into a box to give her the requisite music that could improve her chances of being a Wildcats cheerleader.

Thinking back to that day, Price shakes his head. His eyes tear up.

鈥淢r. Clausen was the Branch Rickey of UA sports,鈥� he says, a reference to the former GM of the Los Angeles Dodgers who signed Jackie Robinson, baseball鈥檚 first Black major leaguer.

鈥淢r. Clausen told Jacque that there were no guarantees; she had to make the Pom squad on her ability. He did not attend the tryouts, which were pretty daunting. There were just so many girls.鈥�

After that, Jacque was determined to overcome her fears as well as the competition.

鈥淚 was intimidated, but after what Mr. Clausen had done for me, I could not not try out,鈥� she says.

A few weeks later, she became the first-ever Black member of the UA Pomline.

While later filling out a subsequent application for enrollment at the University of 蜜柚直播, Jacque stopped to read the line that asked for her ethnicity. The options in 1970 were:

Caucasian. Native American. Negro. Oriental. Other.

Jacque still has that card. It is a compelling look at how times have changed.

Her father, James A. Barnes, the son of Mississippi sharecroppers, had attended 蜜柚直播鈥檚 all-Black Dunbar School in the 1930s before enlisting in the Army and spending nine months with an all-Black artillery battalion in Germany.

He returned to 蜜柚直播 and became the UA鈥檚 custodial supervisor.

Delano Price鈥檚 father, A.D. Price, also worked in custodial services at the UA. He set such a strong example of overcoming prejudices and 蜜柚直播鈥檚 1940s and 1950s racial restrictions that Delano, one of A.D. and Mattie Price鈥檚 10 children, was determined to create a better life for his family.

鈥淢y father moved to 蜜柚直播 from a Black community in Gary, Indiana; we stayed behind while he found work,鈥� Delano recalls. 鈥淔or a while, he picked cotton on a farm near Sahuarita. The rest of the family moved to 蜜柚直播 in 1959.鈥�

Jacque and Delano鈥檚 careers took a different path than those of their fathers.

Delano would go on to earn two degrees from the UA 鈥� he would make the Dean鈥檚 list 鈥� and become the first Black head basketball coach in 蜜柚直播 high school sports, taking the Sunnyside High School coaching job in 1981. He went on to be the assistant principal at Catalina and Sabino high schools and, in 2010, was inducted to the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame.

Jacque and Delano were married in 1971. She quit the Pomline when she became the mother of their first of the Price鈥檚 three children: Tanisha, Marquez and Adrian. That did not mean Jacque abandoned her ambition to make a difference in 蜜柚直播.

Ten years later, she went back to school and earned her UA degree while pregnant with Marquez. She soon earned a master鈥檚 degree. Ultimately, the debutante from the 1970 蜜柚直播 Cotillion Ball would become coordinator of Human Resources at the University of 蜜柚直播.

鈥淚 was determined to show other people of color to see opportunity rather than limitations,鈥� she says. 鈥淔rom the day I made the Pomline, I have been a Wildcat for life.鈥�

As for Dick Clausen, the UA athletic director from 1958-72, his long-ago meeting with Jacque Price was not a self-serving, move-on-to-the-next-task exercise. It was a bond that lasted a lifetime.

鈥淒ick stayed in touch with us until the day he died,鈥� Delano says. 鈥淲e were very fortunate he had the vision to drive to the Pioneer Hotel and introduce himself to Jacque that night in 1970.鈥�