Hall of Fame
Arthur Allen was the first African-American to attend Jesuit. His enrollment represented the first step toward integration, not only at Jesuit, but throughout the entire Dallas school system. Allen was truly a trailblazer in Jesuit and Dallas history.
Some schools refused to play Jesuit if Allen played or even suited up. He had to sit out many games because of this bigotry, which prevented him from playing a full season, or eating with his teammates during away/out-of-state games. Fan abuse, racial slurs, and thrown objects were common occurances, yet he practiced every day and played his heart out for Jesuit without complaint.
In 1959, he voted Most Valuable Player of the football team as well as Jesuit’s best athlete. Some of Allen’s most memorable performances that season include the Ranger victory over Casica Hall (Okla.), where he gained 225 yards in six carries, returned two punts for 85 yards, and scored three touchdowns; a game later in the year against St. Louis of Castroville, where he ran for 154 yards on 11 carries, scored two touchdowns and kicked three extra points, most notably, the 1958 TCIL Championship against Galveston Kirwin that included touchdown runs of eight and 62 yards, a 55-yard reception, a recovered fumble that turned into a 40-yard score, and a kicked extra point. In the end, Allen accounted for 25 points in Jesuit’s 31-20 state championship win.
That same year, the Dallas Morning News selected Allen as one its Players of the Week, the Dallas Times Herald twice placed him on its weekly high school honor roll, and he was named to the All-Area GRID Team.
A captain of the Ranger track & field team, Allen broke Fred Schaeffer’s School record for the broad jump with a leap of 20’2” at Ft. Worth’s Cowtown Relays. At the TCIL state meet, he placed first in the broad jump, second in the 180-yard hurdles and the 440y relay, and third in the 100y dash.
Allen was also on the Jesuit elocution team, winning a first-place trophy in 1959. He received numerous scholarship offers, eventually accepting a four-year scholarship to Marquette University. In 1994, he was named the Jesuit Dallas Distinguished Alumnus of the Year.
