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^ Black Ink
We're Gonna Make It
By Debbie Baker
Staff
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is considered one of the
best public institutions of higher learning in the United States. As the first state
university to open its doors, UNC has a long tradition of academic excellence.
Chapel Hill is the ultimate college town as students from acro'ss the country
receive their academic training in hundreds of areas. Among the thousands of
students who apply to the University each year, only a select few are chosen
to enroll in the freshman class. A certain amount of prestige accompanies
every student who is a “Tar Heel.” UNC has such a renown reputation that it
has eamed the nickname the “Southern Part of Heaven." UNC is a “paradise”
where one can think, study, be happy—just enjoy the good things in life. A
place where people from diverse backgrounds can just be free.
But at UNC, black students are not free.
Black students can’t be free, as long as they barely represent 10 percent of
a student population.
They can’t be free, when there are so few faculty and staff of African
descent.
They can’t be free because they don’t graduate at the same rates as their
white counterparts.
But despite the chains of racism that try to hold us back, despite the
shackles of disadvantages around our feet, we as black students are going to
make it at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Cover Story
— The Recruitment, Retention
Decline of Black Undergraduates at UNC
120%
100% --
80% --
Total UNC
Population
60%
40% —
20%
0%
9% Black
8.3 % Black
10% Black
1988 1987 1983
Black Undergraduate Population
The Trailblazers
During the earlier part of the 20th century,
state statues allowed almost all white universities
in the U.S. todenyadmission to students of color,
but especially those of African descent. And UNC
was no different from the rest. Class rank and
grade point average were irrelevant as white uni
versities enforced “Jim Crow” laws as a way to
preserve the status quo.
However, historically, African-Americans who
have challenged legal institutional segregation.
Certain blacks have refused to participate in in
justices and have fought their relegation to sec
ond class citizenship. African-American trailblaz
ers helped pave the way for future generations of
black students at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Pauli Murray, a native of Durham and a gradu
ate of Hunter College in New York, became one
of the first blacks to apply to UNC in 1938. She
wanted to do graduate work in the sociology
department at the University, She had hoped that
the University would abide by the U.S. Supreme
Court’s decision in Gaines vs. Canada. In this
case, the high court ruled that universities must
admit blacks into their graduate programs at
black universities. Two days after the Court’s
ruling, UNC sent Pauli Munay a letter saying she
had been denied admission. After the rejection,
she embarked upon a letter writing campaign
designed to raise consciousness about the issue.
Although she was denied admission, her protest
stirred public controversy, which made it a little
easier for ftjture black students applying to UNC.
In 1951, UNC found itself once again in the
middle of a segregation issue. For thirteen years,
UNC had ignored the Supreme Court’s ruling on
admission policies. In fact, UNC only admitted
students, when a U.S. Court of Appeals ordered
them to abide by the Supreme Court’s 1938
ruling. The first three black students to attend
school at UNC-Chapel Hill were J. Kenneth Lee,
Henry Beech and Hoyd McKissick. All three had
been students at North Carolina Central Univer
sity’s Law School in Durham, N.C., when the
ruling came. For a while, highway patrolmen
escorted them to class, but eventually publicity
surrounding their admission died down. All three
went onto become successful attomeys. McKis
sick became well-known as the executive direc
tor for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
during the civil rights movement and was re
cently appointed to a judgeship.
When black students go into Lenoir Dining
Hall today, they don’t need armed guards. And
there are certainly more than three black stu
dents on this campus. However, the plight of the
trailblazers is important, as black students exam
ine what happens to them when they come to
school at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Separate but not Equal
The state of North Carolina operates 16 pub-
Ik institutions of higher education. All of these
pubik: universities comprise the entire Univer
sity of North Carolina system. The entire UNC
systemshould not be confused with UNC-Chapel
Hill, which is just one of the universities within
the system.
In 1969, the U.S. Department of Health,
Education and Welfare (HEW) accused North
Carolina and nine other states of operating seg
regated universities in its system. HEW said the
states were in violatbn of Title VI of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits racial dis
crimination at any university receiving federal
funding. Each state was ordered to develop
affirmative action plans and submit them to
HEW for approval.
In 1970, several civil rights organizations,
including the National Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People (NAACP), sued
HEW for failing to enforce Title VI of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964. The organizations did not feel
that HEW was pressuring the UNC school system
to desegregate. The law suits were consolidated
into one case called Adams vs. Richardson.
“I testified in that case as an undergraduate at
UNC-Chapel Hill,” said Rosalind Fuse-Hall, as
sociate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences.
“HEW wanted a couple of students to tell about
the racial climate at UNC-Chapel Hill, so I did. I
told them that the ampus was racially segre
gated and that there was a seemingly racist
attitude on the campus.”
In 1981, the UNC Board of Governors and
HEW finally agreed upon a desegregation plan,
which called for minority enrollment to inaease
at the system’5 universities. The universities
would also have to submit annual reports to
HEW, now the Department of Education, on the
status of minority enrollment.
Since the Adams Case
The UNC-Chapel Hill Affirmative Action Of
fice, has the task of collecting data on minority
students and faculty. The office publishes an
nual reports analyzing trends in minority enroll
ment and minority hiring. The office is directed
by Dr. Robert Cannon, UNC-CH’s affirmative
actk)n officer.
Statistics show that from 1983 to 1987, the
number of black undergraduates constantly
declined. In the Fall of 1983, blacks comprisf d
10 percent of the student population, but that
number had dropped to8.3 percent by Fall 1987.
The decline in black enrollment is ironic consid
ering that the entire student population increased
from 12,810 in 1983 to 13,562 by 1987. In the Fall
of 1988, Hacks made up about 9 percent of the
13,835 member student body, which is still be
low the 1983 figure.
Dr. Cannon said the number of black stu
dents at the University during the past 10 years
has been affected by the low number of high