Desegregation of Undergraduate Programs

Although the Brown decision helped to set things in motion, it would take another federal ruling to finally force North Carolina into action. When Leroy Frasier, Ralph Frasier, and John Brandon were denied entry to UNC because of their race, the young men filed suit. Although all three were admitted in 1955 after a federal court ruled in their favor, the situation was not completely resolved as the state decided to appeal the verdict to the Supreme Court.

After the lower court’s decision, NC State, believing that the ruling applied to all of the UNC system’s universities, accepted the applications of two African American students. When Chancellor Bostian wrote to North Carolina Attorney General William Rodman, Jr. to apprise him of the situation, however, the Attorney General instructed him to take no further action. Rodman suggested that the court’s decision in Frasier, et. al. v. Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina may not have been binding on State College and, as such, the university did not need to begin processing applications.

Bostian was confused by Rodman’s reply and he wrote to William Friday, the acting president of the UNC system, to ask for his advice. He believed that NC State had been acting according to Friday’s instructions when they had accepted the two students and was afraid that the university had already made a mistake by contacting them. Several days later, Friday responded with a memo, which essentially reiterated the state Attorney General’s instructions. NC State’s administration may not have been enthusiastic about desegregating their university, but in this instance they were encouraged to wait. While university officials may have been ready to accept defeat, the state of North Carolina was not and the universities therefore continued to delay desegregation until the federal government forced them to act. This exchange illustrates that despite the claims of some North Carolina progressive, the state leadership was committed to the preservation of segregation.

Visit other Exhibits in Crossing the Color Line.