Interview with Arvel Carroll, Jr., July 12, 2006

Interview Summary

Arvel Carroll was a student at the University of Kentucky from 1969-1973 and was recruited by the university to play football. In this first of two interviews he discusses his family background, and his early education in both segregated and integrated schools in Jeffersontown and Louisville, Kentucky. He says he was the first member of his immediate family to finish a four-year college degree, and says he only began to see college as a possibility after being recruited as a football player and being offered scholarships. He talks about his decision to attend UK, due in part to proximity to his family as well as the presence of other African American athletes recruited by the university. He discusses the atmosphere at the university as both an athlete and a Black student, and talks about some of the discrimination he faced on campus. He talks about the Black students' interaction with the wider Lexington community, and discusses race relations in Lexington.

Interview Keyword

African American Alumni African American families African Americans College athletes College environment College football players College integration College sports College students--Social networks Discrimination in higher education Minorities in higher education University of Kentucky University of Kentucky Alumni University of Kentucky football

Interview LC Subject

African American college graduates--Kentucky African American college students--Social conditions African Americans--Education (Higher) African Americans--Education--Kentucky--Lexington Carroll, Arvel, Jr. Carroll, Arvel, Jr.--Interviews University of Kentucky University of Kentucky--History Race relations--Kentucky

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.