In 1948, Johnson filed a lawsuit against the University that led to the school's integration, kicking open a door long closed to blacks.

Last week, UK lost an icon when Johnson died at 91. Johnson was allowed to enter UK 49 years ago, then a blip on the screen in the grand scheme of history. Less than half a century ago, the University's walls were, for the state's black population, as sealed off as Fort Knox.

It makes you realize we've come a long way.

Thing is, we also have a long way to go.

If we didn't, there wouldn't be prevailing feelings of racial tension on this vast campus. If we didn't, AWARE -- the Alliance Working to Achieve Racial Equality -- wouldn't have to work to get our feelings about race out in the open.

But racial tension does exist here. And we're lucky to have groups like AWARE to help try and sift through it.

We're doubly lucky that we can call Johnson an alumnus. He didn't need UK's degree -- he had earned bachelor's and master's degrees from other schools. But he fought state law anyway, and it was the right thing to do.

Because of that, because of him, black students are free to attend UK. And that's a positive on more levels than one. Besides providing an opportunity for blacks, it allows each of us to learn in a more diverse academic environment, one that more accurately mirrors our society.

And that's healthy for all concerned.

And that's healthy for all concerned. UK still has strides to make, but the University is trying. For proof of that, look no further than the effort to establish UK's "Principles for Inclusive Learning," which stress the importance of diversity in the University community, and to the school's hiring of Smith, who is helping pull the athletic program out of the shadow of past accusations of racism.

We think what the University is trying would make Lyman Johnson proud of his alma mater. We know what he succeeded in doing makes us proud to attend it.