John Maguire, former SUNY Old Westbury president who crusaded for social change, dies 

John D. Maguire, a colleague of Martin Luther King Jr. and an original Freedom Rider, crusaded for social change throughout his life.

Maguire served as the second president of SUNY Old Westbury, from 1970-81, providing vision and leadership that served as “a bedrock of our college's mission for most of its more than 50-year history,” SUNY Old Westbury president the Rev. Calvin O. Butts III wrote in a letter to students and staff. "His was the leadership that helped forge the commitment to diversity, of which we remain so proud and that set the course of what we continue to explore — what he called 'the riddle of human justice.' "

Maguire, president emeritus of SUNY Old Westbury, died Oct. 26 in Pomona, California, after earlier suffering a stroke. He was 86.

His daughter, Anne Turner, of Claremont, California, said that as president Maguire wanted to "bring his ideals about offering access and opportunity to all kinds of students, which he believed was the core of what Old Westbury was about."

Born in Montgomery, Alabama, he grew up in Jacksonville, Florida. He met his wife, Lillian (Billie), now of Pomona, at a Christian summer camp while they were both in college. The couple was married for 65 years and had five children, including two who predeceased him, a daughter, Kelly, and a son, John Mark.

After graduating from Washington and Lee University with a bachelor's degree in philosophy, Maguire became a Fulbright fellow in Scotland. He went on to complete both his bachelor of divinity and doctorate in theology and psychiatry from Yale Divinity School. In 1965, he was a Fulbright scholar at the University of Tübingen in Germany.

He was at a spiritual retreat when he was paired with a roommate who turned out to be King, a daughter said.

"They ended up staying up all night talking and finding that there was so much more about them — both were the sons of preachers," Turner said. "They had so much more in common than what was different about them and they became incredible friends."

Maguire was an official at Wesleyan University when King served as commencement speaker. After King's death, Maguire became a founding member of The King Center for social change in Atlanta and later its chair. He was on sabbatical from Wesleyan when he took the position as president of SUNY Old Westbury and lived on campus with his family. 

“While here, he touched on the relation of moral philosophy and religious thought to contemporary society, and on issues of human rights and social justice. Touching on those ideals was no surprise to the longtime faculty members who knew him best," Butts said in a letter to students and staff.

He moved to California from Long Island to serve as president of Claremont Graduate University.

Maguire was a longtime board member of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc. A statement honoring Maguire posted on the group's website said that in 1961, with urging from King, Maguire and William Sloane Coffin embarked on a Freedom Ride with three black students and several white theology professors, part of a larger effort to challenge Jim Crow’s grip on the South. Writing in the June 2, 1961, issue of Life magazine, Coffin said that by joining the rides, he and Maguire “hoped to dramatize the fact that this is not just a student movement. We felt that our being university educators might help encourage the sea of silent moderates in the South to raise their voices.”

The group was arrested in Maguire’s hometown of Montgomery for “breach of the peace” after attempting to order coffee at a segregated restaurant. After spending two nights in jail, they were released on bail.

Maguire last visited Old Westbury in 2011, when he delivered the commencement address for the graduating class. The theater at SUNY Old Westbury, located in the Campus Center, is named for the couple — the John D. & Lillian Maguire Theater.

In addition to his wife and daughter, surviving are his daughters: Catherine Maguire, of Palmyra, Virginia, and Mary Maguire, of Montpelier, Virginia. He was preceded in death by his sister, Merrill Skaggs, of Madison, New Jersey, and is survived by his sister, Martha Worsley, of Jacksonville. 

Services will be Dec. 1 at Claremont United Church of Christ at 11 am. A private family burial will follow the next day at Oak Park Cemetery in Claremont. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Claremont Graduate University.

By Joie Tyrrell

joie.tyrrell@newsday.com@JoieTyrrell

Joie Tyrrell is a Long Island native and covers education for Newsday, where she has worked since 1998.