This 1937 letter to the Minnesota Daily may be the the first time discrimination against African American students in on-campus housing was published. Gordon Brooks wrote an “open letter” to President Coffman castigating him for refusing to answer a question from a “Negro student,” who asked why two African American women students were not allowed to live in student housing. Brooks criticized President Coffman for not only refusing to answer, but for claiming that the purpose of the forum was to discuss “social issues,” which did not include racial segregation.