Volume 6, No. 15

TAKING THE LEAD Mills helped pave the way for minority athletes at A&M with Aggie-first mentality By Rusty Burson

It was the first week on the Texas A&M campus for freshman sprinter Curtis Mills, and when he heard the late-night knock on his dorm-room door, Mills opened it to find a small, burning cross.

It was September of 1967, and Mills was the first African-American athlete ever to be awarded a scholarship at Texas A&M. He anticipated some strange looks; he was prepared for some muffled slurs behind his back; but he didn’t know what to make of this.

"That first night, I really just kind of took it as a joke or some kind of initiation thing," said Mills, now a supervisor for Travis County’s Transportation and Natural Resources Department. "But then it happened a second night, a third night and a fourth night. I began thinking they didn’t want us to go here."

Mills and two other African-American athletes then met with A&M coaches. A meeting was held, a mandate was issued. Nothing similar ever happened again.

In fact, Mills now jokes that, from that point forward, he practically had to beg fellow athletes and classmates to treat him just as badly as the rest of the underclassmen.

"We just wanted to fit in, to be Aggies," Mills said. "If there was an initiation, we said, ‘Give it to us.’ But everybody was being so polite at one point they would ask us if it was OK to initiate us. I said, ‘You don’t ask the other freshmen. Don’t ask us. Just do it.’

Former A&M track star Curtis Mills shows his old form at the opening of the A&M Sports Museum.

"So, they took us all out – the white guys, the black guys, all of us – and sprayed us with paint, dumped us out in the country and told us to find our way back to campus. They don’t do that anymore, of course. But it was great. It wasn’t about skin color. It was about being an Aggie. I was proud to be an Aggie then, and I’m still just as proud to be an Aggie now."

In the big picture of things, Mills is definitely one of the all-time great Aggie athletes. And whether he was breaking racial barriers or track and field records, Mills has always made it clear that the color he most likes to be defined by is maroon.

That hasn’t changed. Mills is a regular at Aggie athletic events throughout the year – at home or away.

He takes a great deal of pride in being a pioneer at A&M for future African-American athletes and students. But most of all, he swells with pride regarding how the students at A&M in the late 1960s welcomed him and made him part of the Aggie family.

The isolated incidents during his first week on campus may have been an example of the racial unrest that permeated much of the South during that era. But how he was treated over the next four years was an example of the spirit and camaraderie that has long set Texas A&M apart – and above – other universities.

"I’m from Lufkin, and I went to Dunbar High School before integration," Mills said. "It was an all-black school, and I figured I was heading to an all-black university, probably Southern University. But it ended up that I came to Texas A&M, and I am so thankful that I did.

"I don’t know about how other African-Americans felt about racial issues at that time, but it wasn’t a barrier at Texas A&M. In the process of learning how to "hump it" and do the yells and learn all the other traditions, I just felt like an Aggie. Not a black Aggie. You don’t have time to worry about who has what or how rich or poor you are, or whether you’re white or black. I just wanted to be an Aggie, and those students wanted me to be an Aggie."

Once he learned the university’s traditions, Mills began working on carrying on the tradition of A&M’s track and field excellence.

Three-time NCAA shot-put champion – and future Olympic gold medalist – Randy Matson was finishing up at A&M just as Mills was arriving. But Mills immediately went to work on keeping Aggie track and field in the national spotlight.

By the time he was done at A&M, Mills had set or been part of 11 school records. He also won seven Southwest Conference titles and won the 1969 national title with a then world-record time of 44.7 in the 440-yard dash.

En route to setting the world record in ’69, Mills shocked the crowd in Knoxville, Tenn. By beating 1968 gold medalist Lee Evans and silver winner Larry James.

Mills, a three-time All-American at A&M, also teamed with his younger brother, Marvin, to set two world records in 1970. The quartet of Harold McMahan, Willie Blackmon and the Wills brothers set the indoor mile record (3:05.7) in Houston. Then Donny Rogers, Rockie Woods and the Mills brothers set the 880-yard relay record (1:21.7) in Des Moines.

Mills didn’t put Texas A&M track and field on the map, but he certainly much it a much more desirable destination for future standouts.

"I had never been to A&M when I was in high school, and I didn’t know anyone who went to A&M," Mills said. "But when I visited, I thought it was great, and I thought it was a great opportunity to be the first black athlete to sign a scholarship to go to A&M.

"‘Howdy’ wasn’t a part of anything I said before I went there. But before long, we were hollering ‘howdy.’ I knew then, that me and the other black athletes I came in with were going to fit in. And in terms of track, I just knew we were going to win and do something very special. And it wasn’t just the individual stuff that mattered to me. It was the team. We wanted to win it as a team."

With Mills leading the way, that’s exactly what the Aggies did in 1970. A&M ended a 16-year drought to give Charlie Thomas his first SWC outdoor title. Mills won the 220, the 440 and anchored the title-winning 440-yard relay team.

"At the time, I never thought about how rewarding wining that team title was," Mills said. "We were young, just competing and trying to take A&M to the top. Now, when I look back on it, I realize that we were pretty good.

"What’s funny is that it all came back to me last year when we won the Big 12 championship there in College Station. I was there, and I was giving out awards. I’m not sure how those current athletes felt about winning the championship, but that was pretty special for me to see. It just brought back a lot of great memories and gave me a lot of pride to have been associated with Texas A&M track and field."

Mills, who received a degree in education from A&M, felt a similar amount of pride when he was inducted into the Texas A&M Athletic Hall of Fame in 1970 and when the Texas A&M Sports Museum was officially opened this past summer. Mills is prominently featured in The Legends Gallery.

"That was beyond my wildest imagination," Mills said of the recognition in the museum. "I’m really honored."

When Mills left A&M, he went north and ran for the Philadelphia Track Club for five years, while also beginning a career in teaching. He then returned to Texas, working a couple years for the Waco Parks and Recreation Department and then for the next eight years as a highway patrolman.

Now, he is in Travis County, providing a variety of services with the Transportation and Natural Resources Department. And as a supervisor, Mills makes certain that all of his employees are constantly reminded where is heart can always be found.

"It’s a fun job, because every day is different," Mills said. "We work with other departments, we have inmate programs, work with the senior citizens and provide just a wide variety of services.

"And we have a good group of employees, although being in Travis County, I deal with a lot of Longhorns. (The Monday following the Texas-Oklahoma game) I walked in and put that score up and reminded everyone that the Aggies had won that weekend and the Horns did not. They all know I bleed maroon, and I’m never afraid to remind them."

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