Social Clubs

Raleigh YMCA, 1960

The Good Neighbor Council also actively battled discrimination in social clubs directly related to North Carolina State University: the local YMCA and the NC State Faculty Club. Both institutions held great importance to NC State faculty and students and reflected entrenched social expectations and attitudes.

The Raleigh YMCA, located mere blocks from the campus, considered itself two separate institutions. The community building, which housed meeting rooms, lunch halls, and lounges was open to the public; however, any and all athletic equipment was considered part of a private athletic club facility.[1] In January 1968, the original chairman of the GNC, Professor James Maddox, sent a strongly-worded letter to the president of the YMCA that read, "It seems incredible that the Young Men's Christian Association should stand as a symbol of bigotry in our community."[2] The YMCA responded to the GNC's inquires with its own heated letter on behalf of its legal team, Smith Leach, Anderson, and Dorsett; in calculated language, the firm clearly argued that the Hillsborough YMCA had complied with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The YMCA, a major fixture in the NC State student body, would remain segregated. 

Not giving up without a fight, the Good Neighbor Council directly challenged social norms and approached the Executive Director of the United Fund. As a member agency of the national organization, the GNC questioned why the Hillsborough Y was not beholden to anti-discrimination policies.[3] Incredibly annoyed by the GNC's probing, YMCA General Secretary Wyatt Taylor directly asked for the names of all Good Neighbor Council members--to which the GNC happily supplied.[4] Even though the Good Neighbor Council could do little in way of YMCA policy, it brought publicity and attention to community discrimination.

1963 Image of Faculty Club

However, the Good Neighbor Council did not merely counter active discrimination policies; the GNC also considered new avenues that addressed institutional racism. For example, the GNC actively petitioned the NC State Faculty Club to open its membership to black professors in the Raleigh area.[6] Faculty Club President, Ivan Jones, spoke highly of the Good Neighbor Council's task to unite "black and white families in the university community."[7] However, he stated that club by-laws were held in place and accepted by a majority of donor representatives.[8] The Good Neighbor Council attempted to open dialogues between NC State and nearby St. Augustine University and Shaw University, but, this time, entrenched social attitudes and a concrete university power struture turned the GNC away. President Jones was somewhat amenable, noting that his club was an "opportunity for meeting in a climate of fellowship and friendship, although such a community is admittedly small."[9] It appears as if Jones wanted to expand the Faculty Club's membership pool, but NC State academics were too settled in their physical and social dynamics.

Ultimately, the GNC was not given powers to actively change discrimination policy on campus. They could do even less with institutions not directly under university control. However, the Good Neighbor Council was relentless at bringing attention to segregated space.