publication quickly became an indispensable part of student life and gained national attention, when it won second place in a contest sponsored by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association of Columbia University. The Collegian held the first place title between 1935 and 1939. When Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 led to U.S. entry into World War II, blood donor projects, stamp and bond drives, and the dedication of service flags gave the City College a wartime atmosphere. More than three-quarters of the students participated in the Victory Corps, which sponsored courses in communications, map reading, judo and the study of the poisonous and non-poisonous plants on Pacific islands. By the time the war ended in 1945, 4,667 City College students had served in the armed forces, 204 of whom lost their lives. The names of all of the fallen, including two Medal of Honor recipients, are inscribed on a bronze memorial, which sits today in the center of the school. Integration Following the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, the Baltimore City board of school commissioners was forced to desegregate the school system, which had been racially divided since the 1860s. As a result, 10 African-American students entered City College in September 1954, comprising 0.5% of the student population. A decade later, in the 1964–65 academic year, African-American students represented 30% of the student population. In 1956 the school system also sent two African-American men to teach at the school: Eugene Parker, who coached for thirty years, and Pierre Davis, who left after one year but returned in 1971 as City College's first African-American principal. Although African-American enrollment increased, the transition from the segregated system was not seamless. In 1964, enrollment in the selective "A" Course still skewed disproportionately to white students. Only six African Americans were enrolled that year compared with 110 Whites, and they were similarly underrepresented in extracurricular activities. Such de facto segregation was a systemic problem in Baltimore throughout the 1960s. To address the problem, Superintendent Laurence G. Paquin proposed a reorganization of Baltimore's high schools. He called for the creation of 13 comprehensive high schools that would offer both vocational training and college preparatory classes, and the elimination of multiple academic tracks in high school. However, Paquin's proposal met stiff opposition from City College parents and alumni, who feared that his plan threatened the foundations of City College's