Carlton Lewis: WSU's first African American student body president

Carlton Lewis was elected in 1970 as student body president at Washington State University, the first African American and the first sophomore to win that office. He entered the role at a time of campus unrest and played a vital role in easing tensions between the administration and students. Read more about his time at WSU below.

Lewis Encourages 'Input', 'Feedback'

New ASWSU President Looks Back and Ahead

by Jerry Pugnetti, HillTopics, October 1970

Carlton Lewis in 1970.

Carlton Lewis is a winner because he lost.

Sound like a paradox? Yes, but true.

The new WSU student body president was successful in his candidacy for the office last spring, the first sophomore ever to be elected to the presidency in the university's history. But it might not have been if the bespectacled Tacoman hadn't earlier lost a bet in high school.

"I was with a buddy at a dance when I was a snior at Lincoln," he recalled. "We saw this girl and we both decided to ask her to dance at the same time. We made a bet that the one she decided to dance with would tell the other where to go to college.

"I lost the bet and he sent me to WSU. I already was accepted and planning to enroll at the University of Puget Sound; I was going to send him to a community college.

"No kidding," Lewis said, "that's life and life is really screwy."

Two years later Carlton was elected student body president, an office he assumed this fall at WSU.

Lewis, the son of a career Army man stationed at Ft. Lewis, amassed 2,616 votes in the election to defeat David Duskin of Arlington who had 2,237 votes. In winning, he earned seven of 10 campus districts.

Lewis' running-mate for vice president in the successful campaign was Scott Hendrickson, a junior in business administration from Seattle.

Campus activities have been second nature for Lewis. He was a representative on the Board of Control (now Student Senate) and was committee chairman of the Residence Hall Association as a freshman. Last year he was associated student body off-campus senator and a member of the Traffic Control Board.

The election victory followed three weeks of campaigning which cost Lewis and Hendrickson about $150 apiece, many sleepless nights and missed classes.

"It was hell, hectic and fast paced," Lewis said. "I would wake up in the morning, would be given a schedule of what I was supposed to do, and would work all day and sometimes at night. I almost felt like a zombie or a robot."

The new ASWSU president and his running-mate talked informally on each floor of every dormitory and in approximately 30 of the 40 fraternities and sororities during the campaign.

Some 3,000 handbills, 2,500 flyers and 400 12-by-16-inch posters were distributed on campus. Advertisements appeared in the student newspaper (Daily Evergreen) and were aired on the student radio station (KUGR).

During his campaign Carlton promised to "take students from the position of being apathetic" and also hoped to "bridge the gap between administrators and students."

"Students do not feel they can influence school officials using existing channels," he said. "If they make a suggestion it takes time to go through all the channels and most of the time never does," he said. "We would like to have more student 'input' in university decisions and policies."

Carlton proposes to increase "input" by a "general university council."

On this council, composed of students, faculty members and WSU administrators, everyone would have an equal voice in all WSU decisions. The council would be the top decision-making body on campus.

Lewis also advocates an undergraduate advisory committee to provide feedback on faculty policies. He suggested course that "relate to a student's life" such as courses on communities, the United States tax structure and an explanation of welfare.

The new ASWSU president, who calls himself a "disillusioned American Negro," says black militancy has a "definite place in society today. A black going through established channels is purely a waste of time. He has certain expectations by people for him to act. The whole system is based on the fact that a black has to be four or five times better than a white to get ahead. In the 'land of the free,' that shouldn't be," he related.

Lewis said he was not worried that being a black might hurt him getting elected.

Some 5,000 WSU students attended a racism workshop in October 1970. The workshop and the election of Carlton Lewis as student body president the previous spring helped to ease tensions on campus.

"I was not identified as part of the black movement that might have hurt another black candidate," he said. "I was more worreid that students would think I wasn't mature being only a sophomore."

Responsibility is nothing new to Lewis. In high school he was associate student body vice president at Lincoln as well as class president his junior year. In addition he was a member of the debate club and football and wrestling teams.

Carlton spent the best part of the summer in Pullman taking a six hour academic load and acquainting himself with people and facilities.

Looking ahead to the 1970-71 school year at WSU, the new student body president said: "We are totally optimistic the school will stay open. All the talk of possibly closing school has come from the administration. We think the year will be routine. We have a job to do and we will do it.

"I have tremendous faith in the students."

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Read about Carlton Lewis' life after WSU in Washington State Magazine, Fall 2004, "Carlton Lewis—Still Building Bridges."