Florida Senate - 2021                            (NP)    SR 2036
       
       
        
       By Senator Thurston
       
       
       
       
       
       33-03534-21                                           20212036__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution honoring George H. Starke, Jr., for the
    3         important role he played in the desegregation of
    4         institutions of higher education in this state.
    5  
    6         WHEREAS, George H. Starke, Jr., was born on September 8,
    7  1931, in Orlando, to Dr. George H. Starke, Sr., a physician in
    8  Sanford who was the first African American to gain membership in
    9  the Florida Medical Association, and Mattie L. Murrell Starke, a
   10  former librarian at Jones High School, and
   11         WHEREAS, George H. Starke, Jr., attended Holden Street
   12  Elementary School and Jones High School in Orlando before being
   13  enrolled at the Alice Freeman Palmer Memorial Institute boarding
   14  school in Sedalia, North Carolina, and
   15         WHEREAS, after his graduation from the Alice Freeman Palmer
   16  Memorial Institute in 1949, George H. Starke, Jr., began his
   17  studies at Morehouse College in Atlanta, and
   18         WHEREAS, because of the Korean War, George H. Starke, Jr.,
   19  left Morehouse College to join the United States Air Force,
   20  becoming adjutant to the depot commander, and
   21         WHEREAS, during his service, George H. Starke, Jr., helped
   22  lead a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new building on the
   23  Kisarazu Air Field in Japan, an honor bestowed on Mr. Starke
   24  because of his many accomplishments and his volunteer work in
   25  making base operations more efficient, and
   26         WHEREAS, after the war, George H. Starke, Jr., returned to
   27  Morehouse College, where he joined Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity,
   28  and
   29         WHEREAS, in 1957, when George H. Starke, Jr., graduated
   30  from Morehouse College with a bachelor’s degree in business
   31  administration, it was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a Morehouse
   32  alumnus, who delivered the commencement address, and
   33         WHEREAS, George H. Starke, Jr., then applied to the
   34  University of Florida law school and, in 1958, became the first
   35  African-American student to enroll at the university in its 105
   36  year history, and
   37         WHEREAS, on September 15, 1958, as dozens of reporters and
   38  photographers gathered to observe, report on, and photograph the
   39  event, George H. Starke, Jr., entered an auditorium on the
   40  university’s campus and was separated from his classmates by an
   41  empty row, and
   42         WHEREAS, throughout the first semester, George H. Starke,
   43  Jr., was escorted to classes by members of the Florida Highway
   44  Patrol, who had hidden their identity and registered as
   45  students, enrolling in the same classes as Mr. Starke to ensure
   46  his safety, a precaution that would later prove warranted when
   47  James Meredith, the first African-American student admitted to
   48  the University of Mississippi, was shot by a sniper, and
   49         WHEREAS, in spite of the fact that George H. Starke, Jr.,
   50  experienced negative incidents while attending the University of
   51  Florida, such as learning that his name had been mentioned at a
   52  Ku Klux Klan meeting, being warned by school administrators to
   53  avoid driving through the Ocala National Forest due to Klan
   54  activity, and finding a mentor only with great difficulty, Mr.
   55  Starke’s classmates largely left him alone, and
   56         WHEREAS, one classmate in particular, Fredric G. Levin, for
   57  whom the law school is now named, befriended George H. Starke,
   58  Jr., and the two remained lifelong friends until Levin’s death
   59  in January 2021, and
   60         WHEREAS, because of continuing challenges during his
   61  enrollment at the University of Florida, George H. Starke, Jr.,
   62  withdrew from the institution and saw his departure documented
   63  in the campus newspaper, and
   64         WHEREAS, George H. Starke, Jr., moved to New York and began
   65  a career in investment banking, which involved top positions
   66  with Wall Street firms, and
   67         WHEREAS, after a career in investment banking and oil
   68  distributorship, George H. Starke, Jr., launched his own
   69  consulting firm, and
   70         WHEREAS, in 2015, George H. Starke, Jr., returned to the
   71  Orlando area after living on the East Coast for most of his
   72  life, and
   73         WHEREAS, despite not having the opportunity to obtain his
   74  Juris Doctor degree, George H. Starke, Jr., enjoys a warm and
   75  congenial relationship with the University of Florida, having
   76  served on the Alumni Association Board of Directors and with the
   77  University of Florida Foundation, and
   78         WHEREAS, George H. Starke, Jr., has participated in several
   79  ceremonies for the university’s Fredric G. Levin College of Law
   80  and in activities that have marked desegregation at the law
   81  school, including his recognition by its Center for the Study of
   82  Race and Race Relations in 1998 and 2018, and
   83         WHEREAS, the University of Florida planted a tree on the
   84  grounds of the Levin College of Law in honor of George H.
   85  Starke, Jr., and it bears a plaque with his name, and Mr. Starke
   86  was selected by the university for membership in Florida Blue
   87  Key, an honorary leadership society, and
   88         WHEREAS, in 2009, George H. Starke, Jr., was awarded the
   89  University of Florida’s Distinguished Alumnus Award, and, in
   90  2019, 61 years after he had first entered the law school, Mr.
   91  Starke received the most notable recognition, the honorary
   92  Doctorate of Laws, from the Levin College of Law, and
   93         WHEREAS, today, at nearly 90 years old, George H. Starke,
   94  Jr., still consults on large energy projects and shares a full
   95  and productive life with his wife, Barbara M. Starke, and close
   96  family ties with his son, Andrew Starke; his daughter-in-law,
   97  Angela Starke; and his grandchildren, Sydney and Spencer Starke,
   98  NOW, THEREFORE,
   99  
  100  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
  101  
  102         That George H. Starke, Jr., is honored for the important
  103  role he played in the desegregation of institutions of higher
  104  education in Florida.
  105         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be
  106  presented to George H. Starke, Jr., as a tangible token of the
  107  sentiments expressed herein.