Swing Hall and African American Student Life

Swing Hall is known for its history of holding organizational meetings, social activities and other types of get togethers. For many years, Swing Hall was used to house the athletes and many African Americans at Miami’s campus. 

Frederick L. Meacham enrolled as a student at Miami in 1954 and was a resident of Swing Hall in 1956. While he was living at Swing, the University made students fill our a form indicating their race. This section was required so that the Miami housing office could segregate the dorms and match the African American students with other African American students. Using his courage and fearlessness he learned in his time in the military, Meacham founded the Campus Interracial Club with his friend John McClaughry and the office finally removed the section about race in housing applications. Meacham went on to be a teacher in Cincinnati, wrote for the Canton Repository on issues such as racial inequality, then retired to his childhood home until his death in 2011.

Wayne Embry wasn't just an icon on the basketball court, he was a leader in the African American community. He attended Miami in 1955 for four years where he went on to be drafted into the NBA. In a recent interview with Wayne, he stated that he really had not experienced discrimination at Miami until they played a couple games on the road down south. This was when he realized he needed to make a change, Wayne used his platform with basketball to lead the African American community on Miami's campus. He went on to be a professional basketball star and more importantly the first ever Black General Manager for the NBA.

Eric Beverly stayed in Swing Hall with the other athletes on his team. Off the field, Beverly has been extremely active in different charity and philanthropic organizations. He has received honors for many of his charitable acts and continues to run his non-profit that raises money for cancer research. Beverly went on to have a career in the NFL and played tight end for the Atlanta Falcons and the Detroit Lions.

Michelle Torbeck, a resident hall advisor at Swing Hall, in 2008, put together a program called White Ally week. This week dedicated each day to a different way that people were able to integrate, support and fight for minorities and their rights.

In 2015, Miami officials began moving forward with the idea of tearing down Swing Hall and replacing it with a new facility. This decision was confronted by a lot of backlash from those in the community since it is such an iconic and historic building on the campus

February 27th 2021. Accessed April 1st 2021. https://alumlc.org/miamioh/6090.

Gamble, JR. Wayne Embry: NBA’s First Black GM Reflects On Racism & Death Threats He Faced In Milwaukee, theshadowleauge.com. January 19th 2021. Accessed April 1st 2021. https://theshadowleague.com/wayne-embry-nbas-first-Black-gm-reflects-on-racism-death-threats-he-faced-in-milwaukee/.

The Eric R. Beverly Family Foundation. (n.d.). Retrieved April 03, 2021, from https://www.beverlyfamilyfoundation.org/

Boen, Deanna . Freedom, miamialum.org. Accessed April 19th 2021. https://www.miamialum.org/s/916/16/interior.aspx?sid=916&gid=1&pgid=6994&cid=12976&ecid=12976&crid=0&calpgid=6962&calcid=12919.

Boem, Donna. Reflections on Freedom, Accessed April 19th 2021. https://www.miamialum.org/s/916/16/interior.aspx?sid=916&gid=1&pgid=7562&cid=14042&ecid=14042&crid=0&calpgid=12394&calcid=23226.