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:: History Site
Index :: USF Site
& Name :: 1st Student :: USF
Sarasota/Manatee
:: Traditions
Overview :: Rocky the
Bull :: Homecoming
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A dynasty of Pride - 40 Years of Memories
"The university didn't have any black professors," says patriarch Richard Pride. "Didn't want any, as I understand." In an attempt to integrate, the university called the public school system looking for recommendations. Eva Pride, a teacher with a string of postgraduate degrees, was hired in 1966 as an assistant professor and reading clinician. She was USF's first black faculty member. Richard Pride, then a principal at the segregated Howard W. Blake High School, followed in 1969 as an assistant professor of education and the director of Upward Bound, a federally funded program that assists disadvantaged youths attend college. Richard Pride remained at USF until 1995. In 1989, the university established the Richard F. Pride Minority Fellowship in the Liberal Arts. He was the first African-American faculty member to receive an honorary Ph.D. Pride recalls a time of "lots of discrimination." He tells stories of sitting in the corner of a meeting of school social workers, instead of at the table. He remembers the first black student being refused service at the off-campus University Restaurant. He remembers being the only black couple at the president's inaugural balls. "We broke in," says Pride. "They used to call it kissing butt or Uncle Toming. Now they call it diplomacy."
The USF line of Pride continues. McRae's daughter Shaylia is a USF student majoring in business. Richard Pride has plenty of reasons to be as proud as his name-of his family and accomplishments. USF's Upward Bound program is one of the best in the nation. During his tenure, Richard Pride shepherded more than 2,000 students through the college door. "Kids you thought didn't have any skills and they do. You can't judge a book by the cover." (1996) ***
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It's
no secret that the city of Tampa in the 1960s was just another hotbed
of Southern style segregationism. It took an archetypal family of Pride
to break the color barriers. 
Pride's
daughter, Cheryl Pride Soriano, is a USF alumna with a master's degree
in guidance and counseling. Daughter Sharman Pride McRae has worked at
USF since 1983 as a counselor with Project Thrust. Like their parents,
they broke barriers too. Soriano was the first black Miss America contestant.
McRae was the first African-American to ride on the City of Tampa float
in the Gasparilla Parade.