Dr. Billy Curl, one of the first black students to attend ACU, visited campus April 28.

Ryan Bowman, OMA director, interviewed Dr. Curl about what his experience was as one of the only black men at ACU.

“There is no comfortable conversation around this especially from an African American standpoint,” said Bowman. “But the point of this conversation is to be uncomfortable and how we transform the experiences from our current society.”

Curl’s visit about his experience about his life and how he got from Nacogdoches to Abilene. He included talking about his experience in Abilene during the time of civil rights and what did he learn and how did he grow.

“To be black in America was dangerous,” said Bowman.“It was dangerous to come by yourself, dangerous to be black, in the time of Jim Crow, but God protected him.” 

The visit also entailed how his experience in Abilene became a catapult for his ministry. Dr. Curl was a minister in Los Angeles, CA and has been a minister for over 50 years. Students and faculty were encouraged to attend to gain perspective on his experiences. 

“I think that it is interesting that a white man brought Dr. Curl and led him to where needed to be,” said Amiya Guynes a junior Communication Sciences and Disorders major from Midlothian. “He listened to God’s calling and ran with that.”

This visit was pushed back due to the winter storm in Feb. Dr. Curl brought his great nephew Rodney Hawkins II, a producer for CBS, to join him in the talk about his life and the current issues we have today.

“The importance of Rodney is connecting two generations,” said Bowman. “Of the present and the past and the work of the past has to be archived by the present generation.” 

The event was moved to the University Church of Christ due to the Cullen Auditorium flooding.