Newspapers / North Carolina Central University … / Oct. 29, 1965, edition 1 / Page 5
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Friday, October 29, 1965 THE CAMPUS ECHO Page Five Hilton Cobb: A Student Revolution In Retrospect NORTH CAROLINA COLLEGE LAW SCHOOL By Hilton Cobb I have undertaken to write the history of the demonstra tions which took place here at North Carolina College last year for several reasons. One, many misinterpretations, falla cies, falsehoods, and impres sions have cropped up since that time and I feel that the record should be set straight. Two, I feel that many valuable lessons were learned and that this information and knowledge should be made available to all who wish to profit by it; and three, I feel that he who bore the responsibility for the actions should be able to write more accurately, hopefully, and objectively, about what went on, why, and how. It is a known fact that stu dents have felt for a long time that there was room for great improvement here at North Carolina College. While it is true that no major sustained protests were held prior to the March incident, it is true that small, sporadic demonstrations have taken place on the campus on several occasions in the past. Under the administration of James Ferguson (1963-64) students rose up to protest the dining hall situation but were prevented from carrying that incident into the streets by the intervention of the Dean of Students, Dr. Marian D. Thorpe and Mr. Ferguson himself. The first fallacy then which should be dissjielled is the one con cerned with 'who really start ed the “March Revolution.” The seeds for this harvest were sown many years ago. The first real indication that something was going to hap pen came at a meeting I called to discuss the campus situation in general, and a letter from Dean Pittman in particular. Dean Pittman had written to me requesting that I con vene the Student Congress to discuss the problem of compul sory forum assembly with him and Dean Thorpe in attendance. The letter reached my desk late Friday evening March 12. Earlier that day, Mr. Daye, the present President of the Stu dent Government, then Vice- President, and I had been dis cussing the successes and fail ure of my administration. Mr. Daye had hinted, and I had agreed with him, that with the exception of the Coronation of Miss NCC and Homecoming, that we had not accomplished very much during that year. We took note of the fact that our suggestions and proposals made to and passed by the Stu dent Congress had never re ceived affirmative action from the college administration. We also noted the rising criticism and unrest prevalent every where on campus. During this conversation, I remembered that I had promised during the campaign for the presidency, that I would hold several meet ings with student leaders to discuss the state of the campus from time to time. I had never held one of these proposed meetings in any formal sense. I decided to correct this over sight. I left my office and went to the dining hall where I used the P. A. system to call for a meeting of the student leaders on the following Monday night in the Moot Court Room of the Law Building. I then returned to my office and it was at this time that the letter from Dean Pittman which I have referred to arrived by hand. I immedi ately answered the letter in forming the Dean of what actions I had just taken and invited him to the meeting. Approximately 40 or 50 stu dents attended the meeting, al though all of them could not safely be classified as student leaders in the technical sense of the word. Neither Dean Pitt man nor Dean Thorpe was pre sent, and I learned later that both were out of town at the time. I opened the meeting to general discussion and griping and got plenty of both. But I must say that I was deeply im pressed with the sincerity of those who attended the meeting. I read the letter from Dean Pittman and asked the assem bly for possible answers to the letter and what our course of action should be. Mr. Daye had worked out a proposal which called for an honor system of assemblies which would re quire students to attend a cer tain number of times and in order to prove their presence, would be required to deposit an attendance slip in a box. The student would have his choice of what assemblies he wished to attend. The students at the meeting observed that the element of compulsion was still present in the scheme and rejected Daye’s proposal. I then asked was it the consensus of the group that we push for the complete elimination of compulsory assembly and the answer was “yes.” The meeting then turned to a discussion of the women’s hours and the attitude of the college and the Dean of Womerl toward the women in general, which was interpreted as being strict, old-fashioned, and re pressive. The question arose concerning the restrictions or the women to visit places of entertainment and socializa tion. Joyce Perry, now presi dent of Women’s Assembly, stated that as far as she was concerned, there were no regu lations preventing the women from going to places like the Stallion Club, College Inn and the like. She said that they (young ladies) were told when they first came to the college that they were to go by the rules in the handbook, and that an examination of the hand book would reveal that no such regulation existed. Mr. Charles Clinton then volunteered the information that the own ers of the Stallion Club would provide transportation to the club on Wednesday nights at which time the admission fee was only $.50. He said that if we (students) decided to go that he could see to it that the buses would be there. There was an immediate response af firmatively. At this point I raised some questions which I considered to be of grave import ance. I wanted to know the exact language used in the handbook as well as to be in formed on the history of any negotiations with Dean Latham concerning this matter. I will admit that I was shaken by some of the more radical stu dents who accused me of being everything from a stooge of the administration to an Uncle Tom. Some heated words were exchanged. Mr. Glennie Mathewson told the group that I (the president) was the ser vant of the people and that what ever they (the people) wanted then I had to do it. I reminded him and all ,the others present that the presi dent of the student goverrmient was not just the executor of the general will, but that he bore the responsibility for leading and deciding. Some other moderate voices were in- , jected in the discussions and it was decided that I would be given time to try to find out just what the legal implications of our proposed actions would be and if there was any other way of handling the situa tion without resorting to a See Hilton Cobb, Page 7 NCC Law School By Mariah B. Davis Because of the small num ber of students in the North Carolina College Law School we have a tendency to let them go unrecognized. One would be surprised at the number of stu dents who enter and depart from NCC without knowing anything about any department other than the one with which they are affiliated. It is in an effort to remedy this situation that the Campus Echo has prepared an introduction to NCC’s Law School. The Law School is a part of the North Carolina College at Durham which was founded in 1910 by the late President James E. Shepard; however, it was 1939 before the Law School was established. After several weeks the Law School was closed because of the lack of students, but it was reopen ed in 1940 and has run con tinuously ever since. At present, the faculty con- Develops Stature sists of a dean, D. G. Samp son, four full-time professors, two of whom are new this year; one visiting professor; and a law librarian. The Law School has a total enrollment of 31 students. Twenty-eight of these are male, and three are female. Eighteen of these are first-year students, coming from the largest fresh man class ever to enter NCC. These students are predomi nantly native North Carolin ians; however, there are also students from New York, Vir ginia, Ohio, West Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Indi ana. A very interesting calendar of events has been planned for the law students this year. The first of these events got under way September 29 when the faculty and staff sponsored a welcoming luncheon. The Law School has also plaimed an intra-mural law re view which will contain arti- See Law School, Page 7 We SeU GUITARS, TYPEWRITERS, LUGGAGE, SUITS, OVERCOATS & RECORD PLAYERS We Make Personal Loans The largest loan at lowest interest rate in town Interest Now Cut In ^ We Hold Your Loans The Longest At PROVIDENCE LOAN OFFICE 106 E. Main Street Phone 682-4431 Welcome Students! Save On Your Textbooks Buy At THE BOOK EXCHANGE FIVE POINTS DURHAM, N. C USED AND NEW TEXT BOOKS FOR ALL YOUR COURSES AT GREAT SAVINGS Ask Any Upperclassman About The Savings At The Book Exchange ‘'THE SOUTH’S LARGEST AND MOST COMPLETE BOOK SHOP’’
North Carolina Central University Student Newspaper
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Oct. 29, 1965, edition 1
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