APPLETON, Wis. -- In the celebration of Black History Month, the Lawrence University Department of Athletics looks back at some of the most celebrated African-American student-athletes in school history.
    Lawrence saw a strong influx of African-American athletes in the 1960s and 1970s. Football player Don Parker, a Chicago native, is believed to be the first African-American varsity athlete on campus when he played football for the Vikings in 1965. Many more student-athletes of color followed in the ensuing decades, from Midwest Conference track champions Jim Toliver and Robert Currie in the 1970s to basketball standout Reggie Geans in the 1980s and track record holder Bridget Nalls in the 1990s. 
    The 21st century brought more African-American athletic stars into Lawrence's orbit. The Vikings had All-Midwest Conference selections like Jeremiah Johnson (football), Nicholas Jatta (men's soccer) and Chris Shaw (baseball) through the first 20 years of this century and now boast current standouts like Taylor Freeman (baseball), Aaron Reese (fencing), David Benjamin (track and field), Aliana Butler-Gray (volleyball) and Jordan Cooper (men's hockey).
    Black History Month received official designation from President Gerald Ford in 1976. Ford urged Americans to "seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history." 
    Here's a look at four of the most celebrated African-American athletes in Lawrence history.
Joe Patterson, Class of 1970
    Joe Patterson was a star tackle for the Lawrence football team in the late 1960s. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Patterson was a 1999 inductee into the Lawrence Intercollegiate Athletic Hall of Fame.
    A three-time All-Midwest Conference selection (first-years were not eligible to play varsity sports then), Patterson was an Associated Press and Kodak All-American in 1968 and 1969 and was chosen for the Delta Tau Delta National Team. A star on Lawrence's undefeated 1967 Midwest Conference championship team, Patterson went on to be a 13th round draft pick of the Washington Redskins and coach Vince Lombardi.
    Patterson told Lawrence Director of Athletic Media Relations Joe Vanden Acker that his passion for playing football dimmed when cancer claimed Lombardi's life in September 1970, but his passion for Lawrence remained a constant. A leader among Black students, Patterson led the push for Lawrence's first diversity center on campus in the late 1960s. He remained a staunch advocate for cultural improvements and opportunities for students of color on campus. 
    Patterson, who went on to become an influential real estate developer in New York, served as a mentor to Lawrence students throughout the decades after his graduation. He also held multiple roles in service to Lawrence until his death from pancreatic cancer in 2022.
    Patterson's No. 71 was retired in a ceremony on Ron Roberts Field at the Banta Bowl in 2023. Fittingly, standing on the field holding Patterson's framed jersey was Lawrence's first African-American head football coach, Tony Aker. 
Momodu Maligi, Class of 2004
    Momodu Maligi took an extraordinary and harrowing path to Lawrence University. 
    A native of Sierra Leone, Maligi, his mother and his siblings fled the country in the 1990s during the brutal and bloody civil war with the Revolutionary United Front. Maligi's father was Sierra Leone's secretary of state, and he sent his family to Texas to ensure their safety. When the football coach at Jim Bowie High School in Arlington, Texas, saw the 5-foot-10, 200-pound Maligi playing soccer, he reportedly said, "Son, you're too big to play soccer." With that, a football career was born.
    Maligi came to Lawrence in the fall of 2000 and played football for head coach Dave Brown. Playing mostly at linebacker with one season at fullback, Maligi posted a career-high 47 tackles during his rookie season in 2000. An Academic All-Midwest Conference selection, Maligi graduated from Lawrence with degrees in international studies and philosophy. Maligi went on to earn a master's degree in international business and public policy from Valparaiso University.
    Maligi worked in the private sector and returned to Sierra Leone where he was appointed minister of water resources under President Ernest Bai Koroma in 2013. The youngest member of the cabinet, Maligi oversaw the reorganization and reconstruction of Sierra Leone's water infrastructure. Working with organizations like UNICEF and UKAid, Maligi has become an international expert on water issues. He received the 2019 Nathan M. Pusey Young Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award at Lawrence.
    Maligi is a member of the All Peoples Congress political party and serves as its Southern Region campaign chairman.  
Kolade Agbaje-Williams, Class of 2006
    Kolade Agbaje-Williams is a one-of-a-kind in Lawrence University track and field history. Born in Ilesa, Nigera, and raised in Evergreen Park, Ill., he is the only track athlete in school history to be an All-American indoors and outdoors in the same year. It was a feat he pulled off in the long jump in 2003.
    In addition to the All-America honors, Agbaje-Williams was an eight-time Midwest Conference champion and was named an Outstanding Performer at the Midwest Conference Championships five times. A 2016 inductee into the Lawrence Intercollegiate Athletic Hall of Fame, Agbaje-Williams set a pair of Lawrence records individually and ran on four record-setting relay teams.
    A winner of multiple Midwest Conference Performer of the Week awards, Agbaje-Williams was the conference's indoor champion in both the long jump and triple jump in 2003. He also set the Lawrence indoor records with a leap of 23 feet, 10.75 inches, in the long jump and 46-3.25 in the triple jump during the 2003 season. Agbaje-Williams capped his 2003 indoor season by taking sixth in the long jump with a leap of 22-5 at the NCAA Championships. After sweeping the titles in the long jump and triple jump at the Midwest Conference's outdoor championships in 2003, Agbaje-Williams went to the NCAA Championships and finished eighth in the long jump with a leap of 22-9 to earn All-America honors again.
    Agbaje-Williams claimed four more conference titles over his final three seasons. He took the 2004 indoor title in the triple jump at 45-9.75 and outdoors in the long jump at 22-7.25, won the 2005 crown indoors in the long jump at 22-3 and grabbed first indoors in the 2006 triple jump at 45-10.
    Agbaje-Williams, who is a licensed certified public accountant and certified fraud examiner, works as the examination manager at the National Futures Association.
Kenya Earl, Class of 2022
    Kenya Earl set a new standard for Lawrence University basketball during her four seasons in Appleton.
    The school's career scoring leader with 1,610 points, Earl set a bevy of records in women's basketball. A native of Iowa City, Iowa, Earl is one of just four players in women's basketball history to be a four-time All-Midwest Conference selection. 
    In addition to setting the scoring standard for the Vikings (she edged out men's player Brad Sendell, who finished with 1,605 in 2022), Earl ranks second with 794 rebounds and second with 102 blocks. Earl's skill at getting to the foul line and converting those opportunities was extraordinary. She is Lawrence's career leader with 524 free throws made and 622 attempts and ranks first at 84.2 percent from the stripe. Also a quality shooter from long range, Earl ranks seventh in Lawrence history with 94 3-pointers and is eighth in 3-point shooting at 31.0 percent. 
    A six-time Midwest Conference Player of the Week, Earl also ushered in a turnaround in the Lawrence women's basketball program. With Earl leading the way, the Vikings clawed their way back to respectability after a decade of difficult campaigns. In Earl's senior season of 2021-22, Lawrence posted its first double-digit victory total since 2006-07. 
    The daughter of former All-Big Ten selection and first-round NBA draft pick Acie Earl, she graduated from Lawrence with a degree in biology.