2.2 Chicago YMCA

In Chicago, Lloyd rented a room at the YMCA; searching for employment for the next few weeks.

2.3 Eddie Mae Page, Friend of Lloyd Gaines in Chicago

During this time Lloyd Gaines took meals at the home of Eddie Mae Page; a friend from St. Louis. Running low on funds, he stayed at the Alpha Phi Alpha house where members took up a collection for him. On a rainy night, March 19, 1939, Lloyd Gaines told friends that he was going to buy stamps and would be right back. To this day, Lloyd L. Gaines has never been located.

2.4 "The Strange Disappearance of Lloyd Gaines"

The May 1951 Ebony Magazine Article "The Strange Disappearance of Lloyd Gaines"

2.5 J. Edgar Hoover FBI Director 1935-72

Many theories, much speculation and a considerable amount of guessing can be attributed to the sudden and complete disappearance of Lloyd Gaines. Known as a loner and having a habit of taking off for days at a time, the whereabouts of Lloyd was not a concern to his family. In fact, Gaines wrote to his mother three weeks before he vanished that if she did not hear from him he would be okay. Local and federal authorities, including the FBI were not notified immediately of his disappearance. Houston and the NAACP lawyers had not been in contact with Gaines for several months.

2. 6 Memorial for Lloyd Gaines, St. Peter's Cemetery, Normandy, St. Louis County, Missouri

What happened to Gaines? There are many ideas ranging from being murdered or lynched, being bribed to run away, or disappearing on his own to get away from the pressure of celebrity. That final possibility was brought about by Dr. Greene, who claimed that a man who sounded like Gaines had phoned him while in Mexico and wished to meet. The man never showed up. A recent theory is one of where Lloyd was kidnapped by opponents of the Gaines court decision who took him to Jefferson City and lynched him in McClung Park. All of these theories are speculation and the fact remains that Lloyd Gaines’ whereabouts are a mystery to this day.

3.3 University of Missouri awarded a law degree to Lloyd Gaines in 2006

In 2006, a law degree was posthumously awarded to Lloyd and accepted by his nephew, George Gaines.

3.1 Lincoln University Law School

Despite his sudden disappearance, Lloyd Gaines’ impact had a resounding effect in many ways. The successful bridging of the gap from segregation to integration in the United States educational system was initiated because Gaines sought to be treated equally and fairly by the established powers. Much of the credit goes to the NAACP legal team, especially Charles Hamilton Houston’s dedication and expertise. However, without the initial action of Lloyd Gaines applying to the University of Missouri, there would have been no case. Additionally, the Lincoln University School of Law was founded due to the results of the Gaines case. Although it was only in operation for 16 years, it provided opportunities for those who had been denied previously.

3.2 Lloyd L. Gaines/Marian O'Fallon Oldham Black Culture Center at University of Missouri

Lloyd Gaines’ memory has been honored most notably by the University of Missouri. In 1995, a law scholarship in his name was established at the institution. Also, in 2001, MU opened the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture at MU which shares his name.

3.4 University of Missouri Doctor of Law Degree to Lloyd Lionel Gaines

On May 13, 2006, University of Missouri awarded Lloyd Gaines Doctor of Law degree.

3.5 The Missouri State Supreme Court Conferred a Honorary Law License for Lloyd Gaines.

On September 28th, 2006, the Missouri State Supreme Court conferred a posthumous law license for Mr. Gaines.

Religion, Democracy and the Public Sphere

Throughout the development and maturation of the American democratic experience, religiously inspired conduct has contributed significantly to democratically progressive political concerns such as the abolition of slavery and campaigns for civil rights, but also the encouragement and perpetuation pf anti-democratic practices such as the institution of slavery and policies of racial segregation. It may be rarely admitted, but there is no essential conceptual affinity between conduct proper to democratic political association. It may, therefore, be useful in our own political circumstances to try to determine boundaries for conduct that expresses and satisfies compatibly both religious and democratic commitments. Perhaps most Americans do recognize – if not in their own cases, at least in reference to the beliefs and actions of others – that religiously inspired conduct is neither thereby justified morally or legally nor absolved from further critical appraisal. Certainly, the history of American legal practice shows that religious belief or inspiration does not serve as acceptable legal defense for conduct charged as criminal infraction. The U.S. Constitution contains only two references to religion: the non-establishment clause prohibits governmental institutionalization of religious beliefs or liberty rights – is limited in scope and application both by other constitutional rights of individuals and by constitutionally authorized powers of government. As the U.S.S.C. has repeatedly held, individual constitutional features must be understood in a manner that harmonizes all stated and implied constitutional features, not by unbridled abstractions of selected phrases. Under the American legal system, there is no absolute or unlimited right to free exercise of religion: not everything done publicly under religious inspiration is legally permissible; what is otherwise illegal conduct is not legalized by religious inspiration. In important respects, general features of the legal boundaries concerning religiously inspired conduct in public life are reasonably clear; nevertheless, broader issues concerning further moral or ethical constraints upon religiously inspired conduct remain unresolved and rarely addressed explicitly.

Molinism, Open Theism, and Moral Luck

It is sometimes thought that the choice between Molinism and open theism involves a trade-off in values: Molinism asserts that God has providential power but allows God indirectly to manipulate that in virtue of which human beings are to be judged; while open theism grants human beings more power over that in virtue of which they are tp be judged, but at the price of giving up providence. I argue here that this picture is misconstrued---that Molinism gives human agents more power over that in virtue of which they may be judged than does open theism. Since open theism confines the possible avenues for evaluating agents to their behavior in the actual world, open theism is incompatible with any solution to the problem of moral luck which appeals to counterfactual behavior, and so (I argue) is impugned by the problem,. Molinists, by contrast, have a promising solution to that problem.

2016 Founders' Convocation (150th)

Program brochure for 150th Founders' Convocation program held at Richardson Fine Arts Center, Mitchell Auditorium on Thursday, February 11th, 2016.

2013 Founders' Convocation

Program brochure for 2013 Founders' Convocation program held at Richardson Fine Arts Center, Mitchell Auditorium on Thursday, February 7th, 2013.

2012 Founders' Convocation

Program brochure for Founders' Convocation held at Richardson Fine Arts Center, Mitchell Auditorium on Thursday, February 9th, 2012.