SYRACUSE, N.Y.

In 1970, nine Black Syracuse University football players became rebellious outcasts when they quit the team to protest racial injustice.

Now, 36 years later, the university has officially recognizing them for their courageous stand.

On Friday, they received Chancellor’s Medals, one of the university’s highest honors. Chancellor Nancy Cantor called the men “emblematic of the values we want for our students and for ourselves when we face critical issues of justice and equality.”

On Saturday, former National Football League star Art Monk, a 1980 Syracuse alumnus, gave them their long-denied letterman jackets at a halftime ceremony during the Syracuse-Louisville football game.

“Sometimes you have to make a stand for your principles if you want to believe in who and what you are,” said John Lobon, one of the former players and now a member of the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.

“Syracuse University I forgave long ago. I left my heart but not my soul. Today, you returned my heart. I can now allow you to be part of my soul,” Lobon said.

In 1970, the Syracuse campus was in turmoil. Classes were canceled that spring amid protests against expansion of the Vietnam War.

In an effort to inspire change and promote equality in the football program, Lobon and eight teammates walked out of spring practice and said they would boycott the upcoming season until their grievances were addressed. They were among 11 Black athletes on the team.

Although mistakenly dubbed the “Syracuse 8” by media reports in 1970, the group included nine: Lobon, Gregory Allen, Richard Bulls, John Godbolt, Dana Harrell, Clarence “Bucky” McGill, A. Alif Muhammad, Duane Walker and Ron Womack.

The boycott inspired fierce debate on campus. Some called the players disloyal malcontents because they wanted to wear traditional African clothes and wear their hair in Afros.

Harrell said the group — all 19 and 20 years old at the time — agonized over their decision.