BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Thanks to a reconciliation effort initiated by former Indiana University football player Michael Adams, Indiana University has formally welcomed back the "IU 10" and is recognizing the important role they played in drawing attention to, and thereby improving, race relations at Indiana University during a tumultuous era in American history. Mr. Adams played as a sophomore on the 1967 Big Ten championship team that played in the 1968 Rose Bowl and started on the 1968 and 1969 teams.
In 1969 ten African-American members of the Indiana University football team boycotted the last three games of the season because the coaching staff would not adequately address their concerns about unequal treatment on the basis of race.