St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1951-07-27

enter the white school. The other,
while against the idea of admit
ting Negroes, held that little could
be done at present which would
not work against the institution.
Most OutspOken member Of the
opposition was trustee John Clark
of FranlNlinvllle, who moved that
the university abolish its doctor
ate in Spanish rather than admit
the Negro applicant.
However, President Gordon
Gray appealed to the trustees not
to pass the motion for it would
mean the ruin of the institution.
He said:
If every time a Negro comes
along and applies for admission to
the graduate school and you say
you're going to abolish the grad
uate school, what kind of a uni
versity are you going to have ?
You're beginning to carve at the
very vitals of the university if you
pass Mr.. Clark's motion"
Immediate applause greeted the
presidents appeal and the vote to
kill the motion was overwhelming.
Gray added that the university
could do little else but admit Miss
Harrison9 because she met the
educational requirements.
Another opponent, Mark Lassi-
ted of Snow Hill, went further
than Clark in opposing Miss Har-
rison's acceptance. He denounced
recent U. S. Supreme court de-
Cisions opening southern white
schools to Negroes. His line of
reasoning might have carried had
not sharp questioning by another
trustee, Kemp P. Battle of Hockey
Mount, brought out the fact that
Lassitor would favor the univer-
sity sacrificing its entire medical
school rather than admit a single
Negro.
Trustee Victor Bryant Of Dur
ham denounced the Clark stand as
"a step backward. I don't think
we should say we're all willing to
be ignorant rather than educate
Negro children" he declared.
Miss Harrison therefore won
admittance to the graduate school
on a conditional basis-that she
make up certain credits lost in
her transfer from the University
of California.
Lay Plans To Keep Negroes
Away
With this part of the business
of admitting Negroes out of the
way, the trustees turned their at
tention toward the plan to stave
off further applications by quail
fled Negroes for graduate study
at the university. This takes the
form of expanding graduate
training at North Carolina col
lege. The trustees granted Presi-
dent Gray permission to turn
down application of four Negroes
and three whites who had hoped
to begin work at the university
this fall on doctorates in educa-
ton. At the same time, they ap
proved a report urging that grad
uate work be expanded at the
Durham institution in order that
the majority of Negro applicants
may be shunted away from the
university.
The initial expansion at the
Durham school viii be In the field
Of education for which, accord
ing to the trustees, there is "a
pressing need"
Graduate work in education
presents a special problem" said
Gray, because of the large num-
Der of North Carolina Negroes
seeking graduate degrees in that
field" He reported that $50 Ne
groes now receive financial aid
from the state for out-of-state
graduate study. OF those, 24O
seek doctorates.
The trustees decided that they
would support a similar group at
N. c. college in requests for funds
TO the 1858 general assembly 70
expand the latter's graduate pro-
gram. Emphasis will be placed on
graduate work in education, as
there exists mo pressing de-
mands" in other fields. the trus-
teas falf