Six decades later, UI apologizes to former ‘Miss SUI’

It took more than six decades, but the first black student to be named “Miss State University of Iowa” finally received official recognition and honor from a university president Friday.

“Dora Martin Berry of the University of Iowa, I would first like to apologize for 60 years plus of official neglect of your status,” UI President Bruce Harreld said Friday in an event honoring Berry and other black alumni from the 1930s to the 1960s.

“We as an institution are very proud of your accomplishments,” Harreld continued after a standing ovation for Berry. “And we’re grateful that you are such an important member of our Hawkeye family.

Berry was 17 when her fellow students elected her in the annual contest in December 1955. The university at that time was referred to by its legal name, State University of Iowa.

She has said she didn’t immediately recognize the historic importance of having a black student be elected to such an honor at a predominantly white university in the Midwest. But her election became a featured story in national magazines, as well as in newspapers across the state, country and world.

The Daily Iowan story after her election featured the headline, “Nation Knew of Her Title Before SUI Did.”

“Unfortunately, the university administration never officially recognized or even acknowledged her victory or her status,” Harreld said. “The best they could do at that time was to offer an official ‘no comment,’ since they said the election was a student matter, not part officially of the university.”

But UI administrators at the time went beyond silence.  Berry was denied representation as Miss SUI at official university events and later events at which the campus queen would traditionally appear were fully canceled.

“To this day, the University of Iowa has not officially acknowledged Dora Martin’s achievement in winning Miss SUI of 1955, so I’d like to rectify that decades-long wrong,” Harreld said.

Friday’s panel discussion was part of a series of events this week focused on the publication of a new essay collection, “Invisible Hawkeyes: African Americans at the University of Iowa during the Long Civil Rights Era,” by UI professors Lena and Michael Hill.

"In the 1950s, white universities weren't electing black campus queens every day," Berry wrote in her chapter of the new book. "Therefore, UI's inability to accept that it had created an environment where that could happen made me think 'shame on them.'"

Berry, now 78, thanked Harreld for his “heartfelt” apology Friday and said it was still meaningful to hear after all these years.

Harreld also thanked the Hills for bringing helping to bring such a spotlight to stories of Berry and other students.

Reach Jeff Charis-Carlson at 319-887-5435 or jcharisc@press-citizen.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JeffCharis.