Gray wrote, “First, during that senior year, I heard every argument possible for preserving segregation in all areas of public life, but especially in our schools and our colleges. I was prepared for every argument that I ever heard in the next twenty years back in Mississippi. There was nothing new.
“Second, during those two decades of racial strife [in Mississippi], I watched the opponents of integration resort over and over again to criticism of the ‘methods’ and ‘motivations’ of those advocating change rather than dealing with the issue itself – just as so many of the trustees and regents, and the administration itself, had done in my senior year.
“And certainly, over and over again, the real issue was evaded by attacking the character and personal behavior of those on the side of integration – just as had happened on ‘the Mountain’ in 1952-53.”