Gov. Griffin's defiance generated a public reaction, all right, but not at all what he wanted or intended. One member of the board of regents called the statement "asinine." Blake Van Leer, the university president, threatened to resign: "Either we're going to the Sugar Bowl," he said, "or you can find yourself another damn president of Georgia Tech."
His students, one mile away from the State Capitol, lashed out in fury. They wanted to see their Yellow Jackets in the Sugar Bowl. You would think a student body of 6,500, every one of them white and 82 percent of them Southern, would be opposed to integration. Civil rights was one thing. Let's not be messin' with the football team.
Some 2,000 students gathered, protested and eventually rioted.
They hung Gov. Griffin in effigy in front of Howell Dorm on campus.
They held up signs that said, "Griffin Sits On His Brains," and "We Play Anybody."
They marched one mile downtown to the popular area of Five Points, and hung him in effigy again.
They marched to the Capitol, uprooted parking meters, broke windows and, just to make sure they made their point, hung Griffin in effigy a third time.
Then they marched to the governor's mansion, where they stayed until 3:30 a.m., when a state senator who had played football at Tech promised them that the football team would play in the Sugar Bowl.
