Faculty
The challenges faced by black professors.
"Why does this University have so few black faculty members?"
Dr. Augustus M. Witherspoon, the first black faculty member at NC State to reach the ranking of professor.
Dr. Lawrence M. Clark
The presence of black faculty at NC State was almost non-existent in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1963, NC State employed only two black faculty members, both of whom were not permanent professors.[1] By 1973, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) forced NC State to come into compliance with Executive Order 11246, issued in 1965 and amended in 1967, and required the university to create affirmative action plans that identified the composition of the entire university’s workforce. The report made it quite clear that university administration did very little to include black professors in campus workplaces. Out of over 1,200 full-time and part-time faculty positions at NC State, only 21 were filled by a black professor. Several of the university’s schools did not have any black professors: the Schools of Education, Engineering, Forest Resources, and Textiles. Both the Schools of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and Design only employed one black faculty member each, while the Schools of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Liberal Arts employed the most with 12 and 7 respectively.[2] The university submitted the affirmative action plan to the HEW and could no longer deny that the absence of black teachers was a non-issue.
Black faculty was noticeably absent from NC State’s workplaces, but the black professors that did work at the university were often very involved in university affairs and spearheaded efforts to increase the representation of black students, faculty, and workers on campus. One of the most influential and notable black professors was Dr. Lawrence M. Clark. Dr. Clark joined NC State in 1974 as a professor of mathematics education and as Assistant Provost for Affirmative Action, becoming only the second black employee to serve as a university administrator. He held the title until 1982, when he was named Associate Provost.[3] Under Dr. Clark’s supervision, the provost office oversaw all of the university’s affirmative action plan activities and helped found the Peer Mentor Program, African American Symposium, and African American Cultural Center.[4] His involvement in a number of committees and boards helped bring more black students and employees to NC State’s campus.
[1] “Racism in Employment at NC State—Patterns and Prospects,” October 1971, Folder 10, Box 2, UA 022.053, North Carolina State University, Committees, Good Neighbor Council Records, 1966-1979, North Carolina State University Special Collections, Raleigh, NC.
[2] “Affirmative Action Plan, North Carolina State University at Raleigh,” January 1974, Folder 1-7, Box 41, Folder 1, Box 42, Series 2, UA 005.009, Office of the Provost, Office for Equal Opportunity and Equity Records, 1970-Circa 2000, North Carolina State University Special Collections, Raleigh, NC.
[3] “Biographical/Historical Note,” UA 005.009, North Carolina State University, Office of the Provost, Office for Equal Opportunity and Equity Records, 1970-Circa 2000, accessed November 2, 2014, http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/findingaids/ua005_009.
[4] “Historical State Timelines: Academics,” North Carolina State University Libraries, accessed November 1, 2014, http://historicalstate.lib.ncsu.edu/timelines/academics#d1970.