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PAGE 12 —Oct. 1, 1954 —SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS Oklahoma OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. klahoma public schools enrolled white and Negro students sepa rately and uneventfully this autumn, with no break in the “wait a year” desegregation plan. But race bar riers grew shakier in higher educa tion institutions and fell entirely in the Catholic school system. Two weeks before the Sept. 7 open ing date for both public and paro chial classes, desegregation was de creed in all Catholic schools. Mon signor Gavan P. Monaghan, Chick - asha, state Catholic education super intendent, said the decision was made in deference to the U. S. Supreme Court stand and to President Eisen hower’s desire to, see all southern schools follow the speedy action ex ample set by Washington, D. C. Both Monsignor Monaghan and state legal authorities expressed be lief the combined schools would not run afoul of Oklahoma laws forbid ding mixed classes, since the system is independently financed and does not share in state aid funds. As enrollment began, the monsign or reported initial reaction reaching his office was “very, very favorable.” He led a general effort to effect the integration matter-of-factly. Routine enrollment reports did not tabulate white and Negro students separately. Monsignor Monaghan said he himself would not know the extent of Negro registration unless or until he made informal inquiry at the Catholic teachers’ annual state meet ing in October. Many Student Affected The change nominally affects ap proximately 80 parochial schools serving between 13,000 and 14,000 students. In past years, less than 1,- 000 have been Negroes. Oklahoma City noted immediate results. Thirteen Negro youths en rolled at Central Catholic High School and four others entered Mount St. Mary’s high school. The COLUMBIA, S. C. outh Carolina public schools are doing business as usual as the 1954-55 school year opens. Racial separation of public school students still is the order of the day despite the May 17 Supreme Court decision which ruled that such separation was unconstitutional. South Caro linians are deeply concerned over that decision and are well aware of its possible effect upon the entire public school establishment in the state, but up until now, there has been no change in the traditional pattern of public school segrega tion. That lack of change can be at tributed, at this point, to the absence of any Supreme Court decree de tailing the manner in which the anti-segregation decision is to be put into effect. * Governmental and educational officials have indicated that the schools will continue to be operated as before pending the is suance of further Supreme Court di rectives. What will follow then still is unknown, at least insofar as any public disclosure of future plans is concerned. Gov. James F. Byrnes and all other public officials who have spok en out on the matter have declared their intention of seeking to pre serve separate schools. Meanwhile, the National Association for the Ad vancement of Colored People (which initiated and supported the “Claren don County Case” in its long but successful journey through the fed eral courts) is not rushing matters. The state NAACP president, James M. Hinton, has declared, “we don’t see any reason to rush” while await ing the Supreme Court’s further or ders in the matter. The NAACP will hold its annual state meeting in Spartanburg in Oc tober and may evolve further plans at that gathering. list included two students transfer ring from Douglass Negro) High School, one girl new to the city and 14 students advancing from the eight grade Negro parochial elementary school. Catholic grade schools ex pected few, if any, Negro students be cause of population and parish boundaries, and received none. Tulsa Catholic schools reported no Negro applicants. Negro students were admitted at St. Mary’s High School in Lawton. In at least one town, Okmulgee, Negro students were turned away. Father E. J. Com er announced he was obliged to turn down nine applicants because St. An thony’s High School was overcrowd ed and understaffed. Catholic school officials interviewed spoke freely and enthusiastically of the new policy and its results, but discouraged special attention for their new Negro students. A pro posed feature story for the weekly “Teen Page” in an Oklahoma City newspaper was vetoed at Central Catholic High with the explanation that Bishop Eugene McGuinnes of the Oklahoma City and Tulsa Diocese did not desire publicity. University Policy News of mixed Catholic schools shared headlines with situations de veloping at state and denomination al colleges and universities. State regents for higher education stood pat on their previous policy: approving admittance for undergrad uates only in cases where desired courses could not be taken at Lang ston (Negro) University. Tom Sex ton, the board’s administrative as sistant, explained, “No one has told the board to change its policy—only the attorney general or the courts can do it.” Technically, this meant the state schools would hold off until methods of following the Supreme Court edict are clarified and implemented by new Oklahoma laws. Actually, it means The enrollment of public school students was not attended by any racial incidents in South Carolina. State Superintendent of Education Jesse T. Anderson reports that no efforts were made by Negroes to gain admittance to white schools. School enrollment is at an all-time high with approximately 555,000 stu dents on public school rolls. Ne groes comprise an estimated 43 per cent of the total enrollment. The major change in the South Carolina school establishment relates to the physical facilities in use. Nu merous new schools were occupied this year for the first time, most of them accommodating Negro students. Since the state initiated its school equalization and expansion program in 1951, more than 100 million dol lars has been allocated for public school construction or improvement. Two-thirds of that money is ear marked for Negro schools. Up to the present, the State Educational Fin ance Commission has authorized construction of approximately 210 new Negro schools and 70 new white schools. Dr. E. R. Crow, director of the commission, estimates that the state is about two-thirds of the way to ward full equalization of physical school facilities as between the races. At the rate of construction prevail ing six months ago, complete equali zation was expected within two years from that time. The Supreme Court decision outlawing segrega tion, however, brought the program to a temporary halt (with regard to new allotments) and the mam moth undertaking is only now be ginning to pick up momentum again. Members of the Educational Fi nance Commission are moving slow er in the approval of new projects, and are giving more consideration to factors of location and size. Con sequently, it cannot be determined at what pace the building program a growing number of Negro students are filtering into student bodies through the “special field” loophole. Oklahoma A. & M. College an nounced acceptance of three first- year students—its first Negro fresh men—in technical courses not offered at Langston. The three were assigned college dormitory rooms. The University of Oklahoma re ported dormitory assignments for a dozen Negro male students and at least two Negro coeds, and acknowl edged admittance of other Negro un dergraduates who are communting from Oklahoma City, 20 miles away. Detailed summaries are not avail able at either institution. Adminis trators say they have no wish to withhold facts, but cannot single out the Negroes because their records are swallowed up into alphabetical files on the entire student bodies. Oklahoma University at least, does not use a race listing in its IBM card sequence. The University, which has admitted some 20 Negro freshmen in the past three autumn terms, does not re strict a Negro student after his initial entrance under a clearance letter from the state regents. This means a student entering pharmacy or engi neering schools may switch after the first year to more general courses. Student directories show more than one has done so. Tulsa University (endowed) is fol lowing the state policy and admitted only graduate Negro applicants this fall. Others Await New Laws President C. Q. Smith of Oklahoma City University (Methodist) an nounced he had refused admittance to 25 or 30 Negro inquirers. His trus tees will take no action “until the legislature changes the law,” he said. Dr. John W. Raley, president of Oklahoma Baptist University, said the question had not been raised at his institution, but indicated OBU would observe segregation until state laws are revised. “We will face the issue when we get around to it,” he said. Trustees of Phillips University (Christian) at Enid voted to follow will proceed in the months ahead. The latest commission approvals came on August 31 and authorized the expenditure of $3,750,000 on new Negro schools. Committee at Work A 15-man committee, comprising five state senators, five state repre sentatives and five non-legislators, is continuing its studies into possible courses of action to be followed when the Supreme Court makes its detailed decree or decrees known. At present, the committee has divided into two sub-committees. One is compiling all the state laws and constitutional provisions relating to public schooling in South Carolina. The other is sifting the mass of data and suggestions accumulated by the committee in the course of public hearings conducted in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision. As a state, South Carolina will not take part in the Supreme Court’s proceedings aimed at formulating a plan for implementing the May 17 decision. Atty. Gen. T. C. Callison has this to say on that subject: It is my opinion that no action should be taken by this office which would indicate that we consider the State of South Carolina, as such, a party to the controversy. The pending action is pure ly a local matter so far as the parties to the suit are concerned. The two attorneys who have rep resented Clarendon County, how ever, will appear before the court when it meets in October and calls for arguments on procedural mat ters. Robert McC. Figg Jr., of Char leston, says that he and S. E. Rogers of Summerton, will be present in Washington at such time the Court may fix for discussing the five seg regation cases. The Clarendon County defense at torneys do not plan to file a new brief in the matter, but instead will rely on positions taken in their 1953 brief. Their views of the pending issues have not been altered, Mr. Figg says, and are clearly set forth in answers to the specific questions posed by the Court last year. the state policy, too. Six graduate stu dents were accepted for advanced ed ucation and Bible courses but about 12 undergraduates were turned away. On Sept. 15, 11 Christian church ministers of the Oklahoma City area took a public stand against this pol icy, signing a resolution asking trus tees to open all classes and activities to all races immediately. The resolu tion was presented to Dr. Eugene Briggs, Phillips president, in a con ference Sept. 23. He told the minis ters no action could be taken in any case until his trustees’ next meeting, October 8. The Rev. Leon Pigg, pastor of the suburban Midwest City Christian Church and chairman of the informal local council, said neither the min isters nor the Phillips faculty con curred in the ban. “We deplore the trustees’ action,” he said. Four ministers drew and intro duced the resolution, after consult ing with Atty. Gen. Mac Q. William son. The Rev. Bob Fudge, one of the framers, said Williamson had been quoted diversely as leaving the ad mission decision up to the university or warning that such admission might create legal difficulties. After asking Williamson for clarification, the Rev. Mr. Fudge said: “We came away as sured that there was no danger of having the university’s charter re voked.” The resolution is drawn specifically “In full recognition of the fact that the laws of Oklahoma would still deny rights guaranteed to all persons by the Constitution of the United States of America as interpreted by the Supreme Court.” Other Provisions Citing anti-segregation positions of both the World Council of Churches and the International Convention of Disciples of Christ, the resolution continues: We affirm our conviction: That Phillips university should be a leader for the Christian churches of Okla homa and for all institutions of educa tion in Oklahoma in opening its classes and activities to people of every race; That it do so immediately in the first semester of 1954-55, as we have previously been assured would be done; That the moral importance and im They take the position that the case should be referred back to the federal district court in South Caro lina for such further proceedings as may be warranted by the Supreme Court’s decision. They contend fur ther that the Supreme Court has no authority to prescribe any given educational plan to be followed by the South Carolina legislature or public school system in the opera tion of the state’s schools. Private Groups Active But while the segregation issue is relatively quiet in governmental and educational circles at the moment, several private individuals and or ganizations are continuing to mani fest deep concern over the problem. The most active center of such in terest is Sumter County, predom inantly agricultural except for fur niture and other small industries in the county seat. The county’s 57,600 population is 57 per cent Negro. A newly-formed States Rights League of Sumter County has been organized with the avowed purpose of preserving racial separation in the schools. At a joint meeting with the Sumter County Farm Bureau on August 24, the two groups adopt ed a resolution condemning the Su preme Court’s anti-segregation de cision, and calling for preservation of separate schools. In mid-September, approximately 700 persons attended a subsequent meeting of the States Rights League and launched an expansion program aimed at spreading the group’s atti tude and organization into other counties and other states. The South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation has not adopted an offi cial policy with respect to the seg regation decision, but its president, E. H. Agnew, has suggested that lo cal Farm Bureaus hold meetings of their membership to determine local views and thereafter advise their state legislators of those views. In a memorandum to local Farm Bureau officials, Mr. Agnew had this to say, however: South Carolina mediate necessity of such an action far outweights any sacrifice, financial or otherwise, that would have to be made; That we pledge our personal support and leadership to such a course of action; That this matter is of such crucial im. portance and the issues so clearly drawn that we believe this to be the major deci- sion to be made by Phillips University and the churches that support it this year. One public dissent was voiced. The Rev. Bill Alexander, pastor of the downtown First Christian Church, who was not in the city at the time of the council meeting, announced he does not oppose the intent of the petition but would ask his colleagues not “to force Dr. Briggs’ hand on something that in the long run might hurt the very cause we’re trying to help.” The resolution was released first to The Black Dispatch, Negro weekly newspaper published in Oklahoma City, because, the Rev. Mr. Pigg said, the Christian ministers were stung by the paper’s outspoken crit icism of the trustees’ policy—a policy which did not reflect convictions of the clergy and faculty. Meanwhile, the state legislative council began hearing proposals for 1955 action implementing school in tegration. Dr. Oliver Hodge, state su perintendent of public instruction, formally presented a four-point gen eral school financing plan. His requests, all requiring consti tutional changes, included the new 5-mill combined school levy already endorsed by white and Negro teach ers’ organizations. The levy is sought to replace the 4-mill countywide tax supporting Negro schools under pres ent state law. Dr. Hodge also told the council’s education committee that the legisla ture will have the responsibility for setting up a school desegregation timetable as well as expediting a statewide election to effect the neces sary constitutional changes. It has been suggested the legislature could recess during its session to submit the amendment, and then reconvene to vitalize whatever changes are ap proved by the electorate. The legis lature will open its biennial session next January 4. Since South Carolina owns its public school system and pays the costs of op eration, it is the right and the respon sibility of our General Assembly to say how public schools shall be operated. If the federal government has a right to say how the South Carolina public schools shall be operated, then the federal gov ernment has the right and responsibility to pay the bill. Neither the federal government nor the Supreme Court of the United States can force our General Assembly to ap propriate funds for any purpose. Two developments in the field of private education in South Carolina during September are directly linked with the question of racial separa tion in schools. In the textile city of Rock Hill (population 25,000 with 20 per cent Negroes), a Catholic grade school opened its doors this fall to Negro students for the first time. The city has a small Catholic contingent, and the school’s enrollment is less than 35. Opening day enrollment was 29 white students and five Negroes. There have been no reports of overt reactions against the develop ment at Rock Hill, but the parents of some of the children have been remonstrated with by neighbors and fellow workers. On the college level, the Presby terian Synod of Couth Carolina has voted to continue race segregation in its institutions. The motion to that effect was adopted at a synod meet ing held Sept. 1 at Presbyterian Col lege, at Clinton, S. C. The motion stated: It is the sense of the Synod of Sou® Carolina that it is in the best interests o> harmonious relations between the whit® and Negro races in this section at this time that the present enrollment policies in the institutions under the control ah“ support of the synod be continued. The synod supports in whole or h 1 part Presbyterian College; Thorn- well Orphanage, also at Clinton Columbia Theological Seminary at Decatur, Ga., and Queens College a 1 Charlotte, N. C.