Oral History Commons^™

Interview No. 1682, Kelly Myrick

Combined Interviews

Kelly Myrick was a nationally-ranked hurdler on the 1967 and 1968 UTEP track and field teams. In the spring of 1968 he became the spokesman for a group of black athletes who were kicked off the UTEP squad after boycotting a track meet at Brigham Young University. The ensuing controversy over their action and the athletic department’s response brought negative publicity to the university and was part of the so-called “revolt of the black athlete” in the late 1960s.

Myrick begins by describing how UTEP’s dynamic young track coach, Wayne Vandenburg, assembled a talented squad of athletes from around the …