Breaking barriers

Jet, Dec 3, 2001

BREAKING BARRIERS: Calvin Johnson recently broke the color barrier at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa by becoming the first Black to be admitted into Lambda Sigma Phi, a small year-old Christian fraternity. During a recent news conference, Johnson, an ex-Marine from Wetumpa, A played the idea that he had opened the door to intergrate older white Greek gruops.

"If it leads to some-thing greather than this, praise the Lord," said Johnson. "But I haven't really given any thought to it." University leaders and student leaders hope the action by the fraternity will help ease the way for other minorities to find a home in the school's historically white fraternity house.