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PAGE 14—DECEMBER, 1962—SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS
MISSISSIPPI
SACS Reprimands University
But Continues Accreditation
JACKSON
HP he University of Mississippi,
reprimanded for allegedly
yielding to political interference
in an effort to retain its segre
gated status, remains accredited
by the Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools but under
its “watchful eye” against further
outside pressures.
The action was taken at the Nov. 28
meeting of the association in Dallas,
following a Sept. 28 warning that ac
creditation was endangered because
Gov. Ross Barnett had been named
“special registrar” in an effort to pre
vent the enrollment of James Meredith
as the first Negro student of record in
the 144-year-old institution.
Additionally, the association warned
seven other institutions under admin
istration of the constitutional Board of
Trustees of State Institutions of Higher
Learning that they could forfeit ac
creditation any time investigators de
cide outside pressures or lack of in
ternal discipline are interfering with
academic pursuits.
_ Pinpointing the University of Missis
sippi because of rioting Sept. 30 when
Meredith was escorted to the Oxford
campus by federal marshals for enroll
ment in compliance with a United
States Fifth Court of Appeals mandate,
the association placed it on “extraordi
nary status.” Notice was also given that
a re-evaluation of the situation will be
made at the next regular meeting “and
as otherwise may be required.”
Meredith was enrolled Oct. 1 after
more than a two year court battle lost
by officials of the state of Mississippi.
Stern Warning
The association issued a stem warn
ing against “any encroachment by pres
sure groups, investigating committees
or other agencies upon the freedom of
faculties, the administrations or the
students to learn and teach.”
Notice also was served on the legis
lature that “there must be no manipu
lation of appropriation bills as a puni
tive measure as an undue influence
upon the internal operations of the
several institutions.”
Pointing out that it has no interest
in the desegregation issue caused by
Meredith’s enrollment, the association
said its only concern is “with the main
taining of an academic atmosphere.”
The Board of Trustees was admon
ished against “any weakening of its
powers, interference from political and
pressure groups, manipulation of uni
versity appropriations and failure to
maintain a normal student discipline.”
Prevented Enrollment
The board named Gov. Barnett “spe
cial registrar” in the Meredith case and
as such he prevented the Negro from
being enrolled when he physically
barred him from the board offices in
Jackson and from the Oxford campus.
Lt. Gov. Paul B. Johnson, commis
sioned by Gov. Barnett as his official
representative, once barred Meredith
from the campus at Oxford. The Negro
was accompanied by a U. S. assistant
attorney general and by chief U. S.
Marshal James McShane on that oc
casion.
As a result of their actions, Gov.
Barnett and Lt. Gov. Johnson face
criminal contempt charges filed by the
U. S. Fifth Court of Appeals for inter
fering with their enrollment mandate.
The court has instructed the U. S.
Justice Department to file the neces
sary charges to bring the two officials
into court to answer the accusations.
Other Institutions
The accrediting association’s order
also applies to Mississippi State Uni
versity, Mississippi State College for
Women, University of Southern Missis
sippi, Delta State College, and the three
Negro institutions—Jackson State Col
lege, Alcom A&M College and Missis
sippi Vocational College.
Incidentally, the University of Mis
sissippi was one of the six institutions
which founded the accrediting associa
tion in 1895. The association now has
388 college and university members in
11 Southern states.
Expressing concern over the possi
bility of new riots and violence at the
University of Mississippi, the associa
tion said it is watching conditions there
and that “failure of the administration
and faculty to maintain, through
normal student discipline, a climate
conducive to intellectual pursuits will
be considered cause for immediate and
rigorous re-examination of the accred
ited status of the university.”
In the Sept. 30-Oct. 1 rioting, two students expelled Nov. 2 following
men were shot and killed by parties anti-integration demonstrations two
yet to be ascertained. Later, four stu
dents were expelled for assertedly par
ticipating in the rioting.
Since Meredith’s enrollment, he has
been “jeered at” by students; Baxter
Hall, where he rooms with federal mar
shals, has been bombarded with fire
crackers and other explosives.
On one occasion, federal troops still
stationed in the Oxford vicinity for
Meredith’s protection searched student
rooms.
Meredith leaves the campus each Fri
day and spends weekends in nearby
Memphis, Term. He is accompanied by
federal marshals assigned to carry out
the federal court order for his “con
tinued attendance at the university.”
Meredith recently skipped several
tests when he left earlier than usual on
his weekends away from the campus.
That gave rise to reports that he is
not making satisfactory grades and may
withdraw from the university. How
ever, Meredith and the National Asso
ciation for the Advancement of Colored
People, which handled the legal phase
of his enrollment, deny he will with
draw.
Chancellor’s Statement
Following the Southern Association’s
action, Dr. J. D. Williams, chancellor of
the University of Mississippi, said it is
“helpful and appropriate because it
does direct our attention to the future
and the important tasks that lie ahead
in the further development of higher
education in the South.”
“Now is not the time for recrimina
tion, for vindictive commentary or cri
ticism,” Chancellor Williams said. “Now
is the time to direct our best efforts to
the advancement and strengthening of
the academic program at the University
of Mississippi and at our sister insti
tutions in Mississippi.”
Before the association acted in the
case, it received assurances from Gov.
Barnett and the Board of Trustees that
there is no interference now and that
none would be forthcoming.
Meanwhile, the University of Missis
sippi received another court decree—
this time from a state chancery court
ordering the readmission of Taylor
Robertson of Jackson, one of the four
In the Colleges
days earlier and after federal soldiers
had searched some of the university
dormitories. Firecrackers were reported
found in Robertson’s suitcase in his
room.
The university reinstated Robertson
Nov. 30 on order of Chancery Judge
J. C. Stennett of Hinds County (Jack-
son). It was a temporary injunction
which prohibits school officials from in
terfering with Robertson’s attendance.
The temporary order requires mem
bers of the Board of Trustees to appear
in court in January for a hearing on
Robertson’s request for a permanent
injunction.
Nineteen-year-old Robertson charg
ed that he was expelled by university
officials “to placate” the U. S. Justice
Department and the Southern Associ
ation of Colleges and Schools. He as
serted that the association threatened
officials of the university with “with
drawal of its accredited standing un
less indications of strong university
sanction against any students partici
pating in any demonstrations were
evidenced.”
Names Katzenbach
Robertson’s petition also claimed that
Deputy U. S. Attorney General Nich
olas Katzenbach threatened officials
and students with contempt-of-court
charges “unless stem disciplinary ac
tion, including expulsion, was en
forced.”
Robertson denied participating in the
Sept. 30 rioting, but he admitted that
his actions “were on a limited number
of occasions below that of a well-be
haved university student.” He asserted
that “tensions and emotions were
aroused which unquestionably affected
the conduct of many students.”
He charged that his suitcase was
“unlawfully broken into” by federal
soldiers and firecrackers found. He said
that two hours after the search, two
Federal Bureau of Investigation special
agents “compelled him to submit to
interrogation by veiled threats.”
Robertson’s petition for reinstatement
asserted he was summoned before the
Student Judicial Council Nov. 2 where
he heard testimony against him by a
major, a private, a federal marshal and
Another Admission Effort
Mississippi may have another deseg
regation case on its hands.
John Frazier, 21-year-old Negro and
state president of the National Associa
tion for the Advancement of Colored
People’s Youth Council, said in Jack-
son Nov. 21 he has applied for admission
to the University of Southern Missis
sippi at Hattiesburg. He said he will
take legal action if he is rejected for
racial reasons.
University officials would not com
ment nor state whether Frazier’s ap
plication has been received.
Frazier, whose home is at Greenville
in the delta’s Washington County, is
student government president at Camp
bell College for Negroes in Jackson. He
had earlier announced intentions at an
NAACP fund-raising dinner of seeking
admission to the south Mississippi uni
versity.
Earlier, Alfanette Bracey, 19-year-
old student at Jackson State College for
Negroes, said she had applied for ad
mission to the University of Mississippi,
but officials said no application has been
received. She would be a transfer stu
dent, as was James Meredith of Kos
ciusko in Attala County, the first Negro
Mississippi Highlights
The Southern Association of Col
leges and Schools reprimanded the
University of Mississippi for alleged
ly yielding to political interference
in its desegregation and said it will
“watch” the situation at all univer
sities and colleges under control of
the Board of Trustees of State Insti
tutions of Higher Learning.
A student expelled in connection
with rioting on the Ole Miss campus
was reinstated by a state chancery
court order.
U.S. Sen. James 0. Eastland (D.
Miss.) charged that SACS action
was “arrogant and high-handed” and
its action tantamount to “blackmail”
against the state.
Sen. Eastland disclosed affadavits
accusing nine university professors
of “intimidating students” for dem
onstrating against Negro student
James Meredith.
Vice Chancellor Alton Bryant of
the University of Mississippi blamed
“nameless individuals” with supply
ing “students with firecrackers, en
couragement and instructions to cre
ate incidents for the purpose of
forcing the closure of the institu
tion.”
A former president of the Ameri
can Bar Association blamed Attor
ney General Robert Kennedy for
rioting when the University of Mis
sissippi was desegregated.
Immediate withdrawal of federal
troops from the University of Mis
sissippi, who are standing by for the
Negro student James Meredith, was
demanded by the Mississippi Legis
lature.
The Lafayette County grand jury
at Oxford blamed U.S. Chief Mar
shal James McShane and the federal
government for “inciting riots” at
the state university.
John Frazier, NAACP Youth
Council president, seeks to enroll
in the all-white University of South
ern Mississippi at Hattiesburg where
Negro Clyde Kennard failed to gain
entrance. Kennard seeks release from
prison on a theft charge which fol
lowed his unsuccessful enrollment
effort.
' MMgHKMMMM '♦
Mississippi's Ross Barnett, Alabama’s George Wallace got together when H
lace addressed the Mississippi legislature on Nov. 27. Wallace supported l
nett’s stand in the Meredith case and attacked federal court decisions against a
regation.
an FBI agent. He charged that the
testimony was made up of “vague
charges, presumptions, inferences and
innuendoes.”
Legal Action
County Grand Jury
Indicts McShane
The Lafayette County Grand Jury at
Oxford on Nov. 16 in a formal report
blamed U. S. Chief Marshal James P.
McShane and the federal government
for “inciting” riots at the University
of Mississippi when it was desegregated
with the federal-court ordered enroll
ment of Negro James Meredith.
The jury also indicted two persons
in connection with the rioting. Later,
it was disclosed that Marshal McShane
was one of those indicted. He surrend
ered to Lafayette County Sheriff Joe
Ford and was released on a habeas
corpus writ signed by Federal District
Judge Claude Clayton.
Reported
of record to gain admission to the Uni
versity of Mississippi whose admission
was by a court order after over two
years of litigation in the federal courts.
Frazier once tried to enroll at Mill-
saps College in Jackson, but the
Methodist church-supported institution
turned him down “because of the sit
uation at Ole Miss. “He said no legal
action was taken because it was its
right, as a private institution, to reject
him.”
The University of Southern Missis
sippi is the institution which Clyde
Kennard, a Hattiesburg Negro, sought
to enter in 1959.
Kennard, a former student at the
University of Chicago, made an unsuc
cessful attempt to register at the
Hattiesburg institution, but before he
left the campus he was arrested for
reckless driving and whisky possession.
Now Imprisoned
A year later, he was charged with
arranging the theft of chicken feed—
he operated a chicken farm—and was
convicted and sentenced to serve seven
years in the state penitentiary where
he is now confined.
A development in the Kennard case
came on Nov. 30 when U. S. District
Judge Claude Clayton at Clarksdale
granted him a hearing in a bid for
freedom on a writ of habeas corpus.
Kennard is seeking his release on
grounds that Negroes were systematic
ally excluded from a Forrest County
grand jury which indicted him for the
theft of five sacks of chicken feed.
The 33-year-old Negro’s petition
avers that since his imprisonment the
federal justice department has found
there was discrimination against pros
pective Negro voters in Forrest County.
Only registered voters may serve on
juries.
There is a pending contempt charge
against a Forrest County registrar in
the U. S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
for assertedly refusing to register qual
ified Negroes.
The eight-page report of the gn
jury dealt mainly with the role of
U. S. Marshals and the Mississi;
Highway Patrol on Sunday night, Se
30, when Meredith was first escorted
the campus. It charged that the w
shals “marched onto the campus t
ringed the Lyceum building for
valid reason since federal authorit
had been advised in advance that ,
registration of Meredith could not t -
place on Sunday.”
‘Definitely Contributed’
“The unnecessary encircling of t
building definitely contributed to t
events which followed since the 1
ceum is symbolic of the university £
is its most hallowed building,” t
grand jury said. “Such action was:
parently done for the sole purpose
agitating and provoking violence.”
The grand jury accused Marshall
Shane of “ordering his men to openf
on the crowd with tear gas when t
situation did not warrant such dra.'
action.”
“The order (to fire) was given wi
out notice and at a time when the ®
sissippi Highway Patrol was succs
fully moving the crowd back,” the r
port stated. “Specifically a request *
made by United States Deputy &
tomey General Nicholas Katzenbaci
Col. T. B. Birdsong of the highway t
trol to move the crowd back and -
highway patrol was in the process
carrying out this request when the :i
gas was fired.
“Until the gas was fired the act * * * * 5 * *
of the crowd consisted primarily *j
shouting, name calling, flipping of *
arets, throwing of eggs and small r®n
It is true that a coke botle was thj*
and there was some evidence of a
being thrown.
“Despite this, the highway jfl
had control of the situation until
gas was fired with no warning 10
backs of the patrolmen and unive 1 ^
police. This we conclude was do ne ^
the purpose of inciting a riot. W e
this illegal action on the part of
Marshall McShane set off the
violence which followed.”
Variances Noted
United Press International said ^
“the grand jury report in places
at variance with reports from the ^
the night of the rioting. Reporters^
several of the highway patrolmen
their backs on the rioters and
the violence that was in progress^
The grand jury charged that
cruel and inhuman acts of
were inflicted by marshals on s
and other persons arrested.” jf
“One specific incident of
was when a young man badly w ° ^
and in need of immediate m ^
treatment was kicked down the
in the Lyceum building,” the
jury said.
Taking cognizance of a state®,
certain university professors cri ^
the rioting and exonerating the
shals, the grand jury asserted the
ment “might inflame the situatio .
“It is the feeling of the g 1 ^ if.
that all parties involved, includ ^
dents, instructors and officials f
be guarded in their conduct,
port said. re^‘
In Washington, Attorney u
Robert Kennedy said the S Tan ^t>‘
“did not consider all of the 8 *
evidence.”
(See PROMISE, Page 16)
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