5 Chapter 4 College Man

Chapter 4 College Man Jesse chose to attend Ohio State University in Columbus, about 145 miles from his home in Cleveland. Many of his black fans were disappointed. They thought he should attend

an all-black university. And sportswriters for black newspapers agreed. Throughout his life, Jesse tried to ignore such criticism. He wanted to live as he saw fit, regardless of his race; he didn't want race to separate people. Life at Ohio State was not always easy. In 1934, out of more than fifteen thousand students, only about one hundred were black. Though Ohio was not a Jim Crow state, the university was segregated. Jesse could not live on campus. When his track team traveled south, he and the other black team members sometimes had to eat on the bus while their white teammates ate in a restaurant.

But he tried hard not to let such racism bother him. "If someone [said something racist] to him, Jesse would say, 'That's his problem, not mine,'" fellow runner Louis Zamperini later said. As he had done in the past, Jesse worked while he went to school. He worked at a gas station, at the school library, and even at the Ohio Statehouse. While white students got to operate passenger elevators at the

statehouse, Jesse had to operate a freight elevator in the back of the building.

On the track, Ohio State coach Larry Snyder picked up where Charles Riley left off. Jesse felt his coach respected him as a person, regardless of his race. Coach Snyder

took Jesse to local schools to meet children. And he asked Jesse to speak at lunches for businessmen and Ohio State supporters. Coach Snyder had been a track star at Ohio State himself. He introduced new training methods, including having team members work out in time to music played over stadium loudspeakers. Ohio State was part of the Big Ten, an athletic organization of ten large midwestern schools. The 1934 Big Ten Conference track-and-field meet was a showcase for Jesse. He won the 100-yard dash, the 220-yard race, and the long jump. Before his second season, Jesse was named captain of the Ohio State team. He was the first black person to earn that honor for any sport in the Big Ten.