to further integrate African-Americans into the mainstream of the University of Florida's academic life. When he assumed the presidency in 1967, there were sixty-one black students and no black professors; when O'Connell retired in 1973, 642 black students were enrolled, a ten-fold increase, and the faculty included nineteen black professors. O'Connell's critics accused him of obvious racial and political animus in his sometimes hard-line decisions, many of which were documented in the student newspaper and other media. When thousands of UF students went on strike following the Kent State killings by National Guardsmen, O'Connell sought confrontation rather than communication. Heavily armed police and state law enforcement were deterred from attacking student demonstrators only by the intervention of UF football players, who had also joined the strike. (Florida Alligator, May 7, 1970). There were disruptions and demonstrations for more than a week. (Creative Loafing, August 7, 2004, "We Overcame Once," by John Sugg.) The campus was also interrupted by building takeovers after O'Connell banned literature from campus, including a humor magazine called The Charlatan. (Sitting in and Speaking Out: Student Movements in the American South, 1960-1970, by Jeffrey A. Turner, p. 160) O'Connell's greatest long-term impact may have been the reorganization of the University of Florida Alumni Association and the creation of an Office of Development staffed by professional fundraisers. The reorganization of the alumni association and advancement program led to the rapid growth of the university's endowment over the years following his presidency. O'Connell began a reversal of policy and attitudes among many state legislators and academics who had previously opposed large-scale private fund-raising and endowment of the Florida's public universities. Return to private life O'Connell announced his resignation on June 28, 1973. He did not provide a specific reason, but it was known that his wife was ill with diabetes. After retiring as university president, he returned to his home in Tallahassee, restarted his law practice, remained active in university affairs, and engaged in cattle ranching. O'Connell later became the chairman and chief executive officer of Lewis State Bank, then the oldest bank in Florida, and held that position until 1983. Thereafter, he returned to the active practice of law in Tallahassee in partnership with a Tampa-based firm. When its construction was completed in 1980, the Stephen C. O'Connell Center was named for O'Connell in recognition of his service to his alma mater. The multi-purpose athletic arena and entertainment