Racial HarmonyINSPIRED

Midwestern Priest

by Francisco Guajardo, Museum CEO

In late March 1963, Pan American College student Jim McGurk received a letter from a Catholic priest named René Guernier.

Father René wrote to congratulate Jim on the Pan Am Broncs’ basketball team victory over Grambling College in the semifinal game that would catapult Pan Am to the national championship game on March 16 in Kansas City, Missouri. The victory over Western Carolina University would give the Broncs the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics championship crown. Father René was not as interested in the national championship, however. He wanted to share a moment of inspiration he experienced in the immediate aftermath of the semifinal game.

He wrote, “I am not the type that sheds many tears but I did when I saw you throw your arms around Lucius [sic] and you embraced one another with great joy. This was beautiful.”

An astute observer of sociocultural and political affairs, Father René described the racial strife that gripped the nation in the early 1960s. He noted the gravity of the moment, when he said, “To me the cry for social justice is the most important cry of our age.”

When Jim, a white player, embraced Lucius [sic], a black player, in a moment of celebration, Father René viewed that as a moment of brotherhood, an expression of racial and social justice. He said, “Your gesture perhaps did more to promote this than I can do in a life-time.”

Jim McGurk is in his late 70s now and has been a resident of Edinburg, Texas, for the past 60 plus years. After Pan Am, he married a local girl, they raised their family in South Texas, and they became important members of the community. Jim has also held on to the 1963 letter from Father René.

Jim’s son Robert, who is a trustee of the museum, donated the letter to the museum earlier this year. In reviewing the letter, museum CEO Francisco Guajardo decided to look for Father René to find if he’s still around. He found him in residence at Conception Abbey in Conception, Missouri. Francisco sent the priest a copy of the letter (and copied Jim McGurk) and later asked Father René to reflect on the letter.

Father René’s response, “Let me think on that.” The thoughtful and reflective priest leaves a legacy that is passed on by Jim McGurk and his awareness of the importance to preserve. Thanks to Jim McGurk, Lucious Jackson and Father René Guernier for making this moment happen.