Editing Paul Robeson (section)

===1915–1919: Rutgers College===
[[File:Pollard and Robeson.jpg|thumb|[[Fritz Pollard]] (left) and Robeson in a photo from the March 1918 issue of ''[[The Crisis]]'']]
In late 1915, Robeson became the third African-American student ever enrolled at Rutgers, and the only one at the time.<ref>{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=19}}; cf. {{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=60, 64}}, {{harvnb|Gilliam|1978|p=}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=20}}</ref> He tried out for the [[Rutgers Scarlet Knights football]] team,<ref>{{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=45–49}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=19, 24}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=60, 65}}</ref> and his resolve to make the squad was tested as his teammates engaged in excessive play, during which his nose was broken and his shoulder dislocated.<ref>{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=20–21}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=49–50}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=61–63}}</ref> The coach, [[George Sanford (American football)|Foster Sanford]], decided he had overcome the provocation and announced that he had made the team.<ref name="NYT 19440116">{{cite news |last1=Gelder |first1=Robert van |title=Robeson Remembers: An Interview With the Star of ''Othello'', Partly About His Past |id={{ProQuest|107050287}} |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/01/16/archives/robeson-remembers-an-interview-with-the-star-of-othello-partly.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=January 16, 1944 |access-date=October 22, 2023 |archive-date=November 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106204105/https://www.nytimes.com/1944/01/16/archives/robeson-remembers-an-interview-with-the-star-of-othello-partly.html |url-status=live }}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=49–50}}, {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=20–21}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=22–23}}</ref>

Robeson joined the debating team<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yeakey |first1=Lamont H. |title=A Student Without Peer: The Undergraduate College Years of Paul Robeson |journal=The Journal of Negro Education |date=1973 |volume=42 |issue=4 |pages=489–503 |doi=10.2307/2966562 |jstor=2966562 }}</ref> and he sang off-campus for spending money,<ref>{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=24}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=54}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|p=71}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=28, 31–32}}</ref> and on-campus with the [[Glee Club]] informally, as membership required attending all-white mixers.<ref>{{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=54}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=24}}, {{harvnb|Levy|2003|pp=1–2}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|p=71}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=28}}</ref> He also joined the other collegiate athletic teams.<ref>{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=24}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=54}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|p=70}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=35}}</ref> As a sophomore, amidst Rutgers' sesquicentennial celebration, he was benched when a Southern football team, [[Washington and Lee University]], refused to take the field because the Scarlet Knights had fielded a Negro, Robeson.<ref>{{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=68–70}}; {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=22–23}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=59–60}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=27}}, {{harvnb|Pitt|1972|p=42}}</ref>

After a standout junior year of football,<ref>{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=22, 573}}; cf. {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=29–30}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=74–82}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=65–66}}</ref> he was recognized in ''[[The Crisis]]'' for his athletic, academic, and singing talents.<ref name="Inc.1918">{{cite magazine|volume=15|issue=5|title=Men of the Month|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=AloEAAAAMBAJ|page=229}}|date=March 1918|magazine=[[The Crisis]]|issn=0011-1422|pages=229–231}}; cf. {{harvnb|Marable|2005|p=171}}</ref> At this time{{sfn|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=68}} his father fell grievously ill.<ref>{{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=33}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=25}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=68–69}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=85–87}}</ref> Robeson took the sole responsibility in caring for him, shuttling between Rutgers and Somerville.{{sfn|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=68–69}} His father, who was the "glory of his boyhood years"{{sfn|Seton|1958|p=6}} soon died, and at Rutgers, Robeson expounded on the incongruity of African Americans fighting to protect America in [[World War I]] but not having the same opportunities in the United States as whites.<ref>{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=25}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=68–69}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=86–87}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=33}}</ref>

[[File:CapandSkull-Robeson.jpg|thumb|right|Robeson (far left) was part of the Rutgers University class of 1919 and one of four students accepted into the [[Cap and Skull]] honor society.]]
He finished university with four annual oratorical triumphs<ref>{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=24}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=69, 74, 437}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=35}}</ref> and [[varsity letter]]s in multiple sports.<ref>{{cite news|title=Hall of Fame: Robeson|date=January 19, 1995|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NNVHAAAAIBAJ&dq=robeson%20and%20brown%20inducted%20in%20hall&pg=4842%2C2952039|work=[[Record-Journal]]|page=20|access-date=May 29, 2020|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728044543/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NNVHAAAAIBAJ&dq=robeson+and+brown+inducted+in+hall&pg=4842%2C2952039|url-status=live}}; The number of letters varies between 12 and 15 based on author; {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=22}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=73}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=34–35}}</ref> His football playing as [[End (gridiron football)|end]]<ref>{{cite news|first=Burris|last=Jenkins|title=Four Coaches – O'Neill of Columbia, Sanderson of Rutgers, Gargan of Fordham, and Thorp of N.Y.U. – Worrying About Outcome of Impending Battles|date=September 28, 1922|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1922-09-28/ed-1/seq-25/|work=The Evening World|page=24|access-date=December 10, 2011|archive-date=May 25, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130525172514/http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1922-09-28/ed-1/seq-25/|url-status=live}}</ref> won him first-team All-American selection, in both his junior and senior years. [[Walter Camp]] considered him the greatest end ever.<ref>{{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=66}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=22–23}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=30, 35}}</ref> Academically, he was accepted into [[Phi Beta Kappa]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pbk.org/infoview/PBK_InfoView.aspx?t=&id=59|title=Who Belongs to Phi Beta Kappa?|publisher=The Phi Beta Kappa Society|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120103230618/http://www.pbk.org/infoview/PBK_InfoView.aspx?t=&id=59|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 3, 2012|access-date=October 13, 2009}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|p=94}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=74}}, {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=24}}</ref> and [[Cap and Skull]].<ref>{{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=74}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=26}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|p=94}}</ref> His classmates recognized him<ref>{{harvnb|Brown|1997|pp=94–95}}; cf. {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=30}}, {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|pp=75–76}}, {{harvnb|Harris|1998|p=47}}</ref> by electing him class valedictorian.<ref>{{harvnb|Duberman|1989|p=26}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=75}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|p=94}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|p=36}}</ref> ''[[The Daily Targum]]'' published a poem featuring his achievements.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Paul Robeson: Remaking A Fallen Hero|magazine=Sports Illustrated|date=March 27, 1972|first=Jerry|last=Kirshenbaum|volume=36|issue=13|pages=75–77|url=https://www.si.com/vault/1972/03/27/576460/paul-robeson-remaking-a-fallen-hero|access-date=March 10, 2018|archive-date=March 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180310200738/https://www.si.com/vault/1972/03/27/576460/paul-robeson-remaking-a-fallen-hero|url-status=live}}</ref> In his valedictory speech, he exhorted his classmates to work for equality for all Americans. At Rutgers, Robeson also gained a reputation for his singing, having a deep rich voice which some saw as bass with a high range, others as baritone with low notes. Throughout his career, Robeson was classified as a bass-baritone.<ref>{{harvnb|Robeson|1919|pages=570–571}}; cf. {{harvnb|Boyle|Bunie|2005|p=76}}, {{harvnb|Duberman|1989|pp=26–27}}, {{harvnb|Brown|1997|p=95}}, {{harvnb|Robeson|2001|pp=36–39}}</ref>