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12 Things about Vernon Johns, a Devoted Preacher, and Pioneer of the Civil Rights Movement;
The Man Who Laid the Ground Work for Martin Luther King Jr.
I want to know whether you want students with credits or students with brains. — Vernon Johns
The year was 1915 and the place was Oberlin Theological Seminary (which is currently the Graduate School of Theology). Vernon Johns had received a letter from the deputy dean informing him “that his credits were useless”.
However, being the confident “self-taught” and “fiery-tempered” man that he was. Vernon Johns was not deterred in his goal to become a regular student on campus. After being given a Greek scripture reading test for which he was expected to fail. Much to the deans' dismay, Vernon passed with “flying colors”. This earned him the opportunity of being “admitted on a trial basis”.
He later went on to become a “scholastic class leader” and displaced his colleague, Robert M. Hutchins who would later become the president of the University of Chicago. As one story goes, Hutchins, being disturbed with Johns’ academic prowess is quoted as saying “ it was impossible for a ‘country Negro’ to make the grades Johns did without cheating”.
However, being the confident “self-taught”…
