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LOUISIANA
SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—FEBRUARY, 1963—RASE 13
Tulane University Desegregates, Admits 11 Negroes
NEW ORLEANS j
T ulane University began its
spring semester quietly, nor
mally, but with 11 Negroes in its
student body of approximately
7,000. They are the first of their
race ever to attend the 129-year-
old private institution.
Seven of the new students are en
rolled in the Graduate School; one is
in the School of Social Work, also a
graduate level division; and three are
in University College, the evening di
vision, which is limited to undergrad
uate work. The students are:
Gloria Ann Adams, candidate for the
doctor of philosophy degree in psy
chology, a member of the faculty at
Southern University in New Orleans.
Addison Carey, who is working to
ward the Ph.D. in political science, is
a faculty member at Southern.
Percell Church, holder of a master’s
degree, is taking two undergraduate
courses in history in University Col
lege; he is on the faculty at Southern.
Elmore De Grange, a candidate for
the Ph.D. in Spanish, teaches at South
ern.
Pearlie Elloie (pronounced Ell-wah),
who enrolled for part-time studies in
the School of Social Work, is working
toward the master’s degree. She listed
no occupation.
Barbara Marie Guillory, candidate for
the doctor of philosophy degree in so
ciology, is a faculty member at Dillard
University here.
Charles K. Hayes, who registered for
graduate courses in sociology, teaches
at Dillard.
Arthur V. Leary, enrolled as a non
credit student for one mathematics
course in the evening division, holds
the bachelor of arts degree from Dillard
and teaches in the New Orleans public
schools.
George Washington Parker Jr., who
is taking graduate courses in education,
teaches at Southern.
Carlos E. Pomares, registered in the
University College for one course in
Spanish, teaches at St. Augustine High,
a parochial school.
Willene Pulliam, candidate for the
doctorate in English, is a faculty mem
ber at Southern.
Routine Registration
Registration of the Negro students
^as carried out in routine fashion.
Eight enrolled at the prescribed time on
riday, Jan. 25. Two more presented
themselves Monday and the 11th on
uesday. Most of the prospective stu-
ents had submitted their applications
m advance and they were processed
routinely. University officials said at
east two other applicants were reject
ed as unqualified.
Enrollment of the Negroes was car-
! e out under terms of a policy deci
sion announced by the Board of Ad-
“tuustrators of the Tulane Education
of tv, °rr ^ pri1 12, 1962, and a decision
5 19f«> Restrict Court given on Dec.
’ (Guillory et al v. Administrators,
ULane Education Fund).
? tatement of Policy, the 17-
Quai ^j k° ar d said it would admit
legali ^ ^ e ? r ° es as students if it were
limit,,*' R^ible to do so under the
Tula*, 10ns ol donations from Paul
SDeoifl 6 .? 11 '? Sophie Newcomb, who had
for th 6 their bequests be used
ry .education of young white people,
held nc l C ° Urt Jud S e Fr ank B. Ellis
the urr lght ■ mon ths later, that though
and m! V ia rS u ty Was a P r f va te institution
the ra*>' i c 9 m Pelled to desegregate,
aationc 13 * restr ^ c tf°ns stated in the do-
that th Wer f ^enforceable in law and
“aplemaf , a , in istrators were free to
Th ® ent their policy,
names ° f U ^ t ,. action w as brought in the
ip the r *T SS Guillory, who enrolled
l°ie, w , radu ate School, and Mrs. El-
studiec : n °,, registered for graduate
Classes u 3011001 of Social Work.
began Wednesday, Jan. 30.
★ ★ *
£
outhein University Works
Regain SACS Standing
^Sap a ^ University at New Orleans
St ^dards e ^ or f to raise its
'T e ditati on „ . thns to recover full ac-
f l °P of r .I* 11 the Southern Associa-
bra Pch of t l6ges 311(1 Schools. The
iv Ver sitv r° Ulsl f na ’s principal Negro
T^ceniber = t* S . ace d on probation in
acu lty h ad f er it was shown that its
? Propoj^, ® w er than the recommend-
«<££■ “ d lib """
apsfgf j - ^ operation, authorized
t ^ivers?t v ’°?i r0m other funds of
° ° r three 7 at Scotlandville to hire
Professors with doctorate
degrees for the New Orleans branch.
The committee also authorized Dr. Fel
ton Clark, president, to work with the
state commissioner of administration, in
processing a request for $125,000 to sup
ply books for the library building now
under construction on the New Orleans
campus.
Legal Action
Bossier Parish
Among Districts
Named in Suits
The Bossier Parish school district in
northwest Louisiana was among four
southern school systems named in suits
filed by the U.S. Department of Justice
seeking desegregation of schools that
receive federal funds under the govern
ment’s program of aid to “impacted”
areas.
And at least three other Louisiana
school districts have been notified by
the Department of Health, Education
and Welfare that they will be deprived
of such aid for the 1963-64 school year
unless their schools are desegregated.
The federal government’s action
brought immediate responses from state
legal authorities and local school offi
cials. They asserted the federal govern
ment is without authority for its actions
and that local districts will, if neces
sary, forego federal aid and maintain
their segregated schools.
In the suits filed Jan. 18, the justice
department asked for desegregation of
the schools in Bossier Parish on
grounds that those schools are attend
ed by children of military personnel
assigned to Barksdale Air Force Base
and that racial segregation of those
children violates the 14th Amendment
and hurts the morale of military and
civilian personnel.
Four Warned
Previously, at the annual meeting of
the Louisiana School Board Association
in Baton Rouge, it was disclosed that
at least four parishes had been warned
they would lose federal grants unless
their schools were desegregated. The
parishes are Bossier, Caleasieu, Rapides
and Vernon.
The association immediately resolved
to ask the state legislature to replace
any money cut off by the U.S. De
partment of Health, Education and
Welfare which administers the aid to
impacted areas.
Several million federal dollars have
gone into Louisiana public schools un
der this program since its inception
in 1950. Bossier Parish, beneficiary of
the largest grants, has received $5.7 mil
lion.
The funds are made available under
Public Laws 874 and 815. The former
provides operating and maintenance
assistance for local school districts
whose schools are “impacted” or bur
dened with children whose parents
are stationed at federal installations
in or near the district. The latter pro
vides capital funds on the same basis.
Aid Minimal
In the past, nine Louisiana school
districts have received money under
one or both of these acts, but the aid
in most instances has been minimal.
In 1960-61, for example, the last year
for which state figures are available, I
Beauregard Parish received $4,163 un
der PL 814, or 0.19 per cent of its total
school revenues; Bossier received $332,-
206 in operating funds and $162,611 in
capital funds, 9.0 per cent; Calcasieu
received $143,638 in operating funds,
1.37 per cent; Grant, $7,242 in operating
funds, 0.43 per cent.
Iberville received $19,819 in operat
ing funds, 0.74 per cent; Rapides (home
of England Air Force Base) got $181,762
in operating and $65,798 in capital
funds, 2.8 per cent; Vernon, $31,404
operating funds, 1.35 per cent; Web
ster, $22,849 operating funds, 0.53 per
cent; and the city sstem of Lake
Charles, $9,126 operating funds, 0.34
per cent.
Current Allocations
For the current school year, the fol
lowing allocations have been made in
Louisiana under Public Law 874: Bos
sier, $478,861; Calcasieu, $145,935; Iber
ville, $25,879; Rapides, $235,831; Vernon,
$211,898; Webster, $90,674; Lake Charles,
$25,192; and St. Tammany, between
$60,000 and $65,000.
Applications have been filed by Grant
and Beauregard parishes but no alloca
tions have been made for them thus
far.
In response to the justice department
suit, Attorney General P. F. Jack Gre-
million said that Bossier Parish could
Louisiana Highlights
Tulane University ended a 129-year
tradition of segregated education, en
rolling 11 Negro students for the
spring semester.
One parish school district was
named in a U.S. Justice Department
suit aimed at ending segregation in
schools that receive federal funds as
“impacted” areas. Four parishes were
warned they would be denied further
federal aid for their schools unless
the schools are desegregated.
The Orleans Parish school board
began considering reverting to sep
arate schools for boys and girls.
The Baton Rouge branch of the
NAACP called on the national or
ganization to assist local attorneys in
implementing a court order for de
segregation of the public schools
there.
thwart the legal
action by turning
down the aid allo
cations and refus
ing to enroll chil
dren of military
personnel who
live on the base.
Some 6,700 officers
and men are sta-
t i o n e d at the
Barksdale field
and some 4,000
children at the gremillion
base attend the parish schools.
Gremillion added that the govern
ment has no legal right to file such
a suit since neither the Congress nor
any civil rights law had ever provided
for the U.S. attorney general to press
for school desegregation as an ag
grieved party. He said his office would
help Bossier school officials fight the
suit.
And in Bossier Parish, District At
torney Louis Padgett vowed a “last
ditch” stand against the desegregation
effort.
“This is something new,” he said.
“The government is claiming the
right to protest racial discrimination in
behalf of its employes. I don’t think
there is anything in the books to sup
port this sort of thing.”
Schoolmen
Official Recommends
Private Schools
Meet Standards
A public school administrator recom
mended that private schools attended
by pupils using state education ex
pense grants be required to meet state
established standards. But the director
of the Louisiana Financial Assistance
program countered that this would de
stroy the growing system of private,
non-sectarian schools.
Calling for basic standards for the
private schools, Supt. H. A. Norton of
Calcasieu Parish told the Louisiana
School Boards Association meeting in
Baton Rouge that there is not now a
law to set minimum standards for pri
vate schools or to prohibit non-sec
tarian schools from operating for a
profit at the expense of the pupils. He
said the state legislature should cor
rect these conditions.
Community Action
“I visited a new private school,”
Supt. Norton said without identifying it
or its location, “and it is evident that
this school does not meet any of the
basic standards.”
The school, in a desegregated parish,
operates in the annex of a church which
last year operated the school itself,
Norton said. The school was re-or
ganized this year to meet grant-in-aid
requirements.
Token Library
It enrolls 73 pupils, has three teach
ers and covers both elementary and
secondary grades. The principal teach
es all the high school subjects, Nor
ton said. There are no laboratory facili
ties or library and only a token num
ber of library books are on hand.
Teaching aids and materials are ex
tremely limited and there is no budget
control or audit.
In opposing state certification of
private, non-sectarian schools, James
D. Fountain, director of the Louisiana
Financial Assistance Commission, ar
gued that state established criteria do
not guarantee educational excellence.
And state involvement in the private
school system would, Fountain de
clared, destroy it.
He said such state requirements as
movable library shelves and specifica
tion of the rag content of book bind
ers have nothing to do with the quality
of education at a school.
To establish standards, Fountain said,
or to require private schools to operate
on a non-profit basis would necessi
tate some kind of state control. And
state control over finances or curricu
lum, he asserted, might be interpreted
as meaning public support of the pri
vate schools.
That is why, Fountain declared, “this
office does not want any private school
and why payments of the grants are
to the parents and not to the schools.
Parents’ Responsibility
“It is the parents’ responsibility to
see that their children get a good
education,” he said, adding: “It is in
conceivable to me that any parent
would let his child go to a school that
he thought was not providing a proper
education.”
Fountain suggested that some con
sideration be given to setting minimum
standards for accrediting, just as the
school boards association sets maxi
mum standards. Schools on the lower
approved list then could work toward
accreditation on the higher standards.
However, he noted, many parochial
schools in this state regularly produce
good students even though they are not
accredited under state standards. And
in addition, many of the schools at
tended by pupils receiving education
expense grants are accredited and
measure up to or exceed state cri
teria.
In all, 6,221 students received expense
grants during the first half of the 1962-
63 school year, the Louisiana Financial
Assistance Commission disclosed.
Grants-in-aid totaled $850,216 during
the period.
Estimates Increase
By the end of the school year, the
commission estimates, the number of
grants will increase to about 7,000.
During the first half-year, pupils
with expense grants attended 42 schools
in five parishes: 29 in Orleans, nine in
Jefferson, two in Caddo, one in East
Baton Rouge and one in Calcasieu.
The students last year attended 227
different public or parochial schools in
16 parishes. Orleans Parish, the only de
segregated public school system in the
state, had by far the greatest number
of pupils receiving expense grants for
attendance at private schools, 4,744 of
Baton Rouge NAACP Asks Help
Legal assistance in implementing
court ordered desegregation of schools
in Baton Rouge was demanded by the
capital city NAACP chapter of the
national organization on Jan. 9.
In a resolution the Baton Rouge
branch said that though a suit was
filed seven years ago petitioning for
school desegregation in East Baton
Rouge Parish, the schools there remain
segregated. And unless local attorneys
receive help from the national organi
zation “we will suffer defeat in our
membership drive this spring,” the
resolution asserted.
It added that Negroes in the parish
want immediate action to enter their
children in the public schools on a
non-discriminatory basis. It said they
are putting pressure on the NAACP
local branch and are threatening to
withold their membership “unless a
definite undelayed action is taken this
month.”
The Negro public feels, according to
the resolution, that the national office
could have forced the case to a suc
cessful conclusion before now if it had
paid as much attention to “the suf
fering of their children as it has given
to the suffering of Negroes in other
communities.”
Schools in East Baton Rouge parish
were ordered desegregated by the fed
eral district court in 1960 but no date
has been set for compliance.
In New Orleans, Ernest N. Morial
was installed president of the local
branch of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People
succeeding Arthur J. Chapital Sr. Mor
ial is an attorney and a member of
the legal staff of the organization.
them. In civil parishes within the Cath
olic archdiocese of New Orleans, where
parochial schools were desegregated
last fall, expense grants were allocated
to the following number of pupils: Jef
ferson, 1,196; St. Bernard, 20; St.
Charles, 8; Plaquemines, 8; St. Tam
many, 3; St. John the Baptist, 1; La
fourche, 1. Other civil parishes in which
expense grants have been allocated are:
Caddo, 74; Calcasieu, 74; East Baton
Rouge, 73; and one each in Iberia, St.
Landry, Iberville and Pointe Coupee.
¥ ¥ ¥
Orleans Board Studies
Pupil Separation by Sex
Separation of pupils by sex in all
public junior and senior high schools
of New Orleans is under study by the
Orleans Parish school board. The inves
tigation was launched at the board
meeting Jan. 14.
Though segregation of the sexes is
not new to the Orleans school system,
consideration of the idea at this time
stems from the realization that even
tually the federal courts will require
complete desegregation of the public
schools, board members said.
However, Board President Matthew
R. Sutherland explained, the move to
end co-education is not a scheme to
dodge or an evasive compromise on the
segregation-desegregation issue. If car
ried out, the move would separate the
boys and girls. But white boys and
Negro boys would attend some high
schools together, and white and Negro
girls would attend others.
In all, some 30 schools would be af
fected: 11 senior high schools, three
junior-senior high schools; 5 junior
high schools, and one junior high-ele
mentary combination. About 34,000 jun
ior and senior high students would be
involved.
Declined Action
In authorizing the study, the board
declined to take action on a motion
by new member Daniel A. Ellis rec
ommending that a plan to end co-edu
cation be instituted in September, 1963.
The motion died for lack of a second,
not, according to board member Louis
G. Riecke, because of disagreement
with the proposal but because the mem
bers thought it proper to base their
final action on a comprehensive study
of the advantages and disadvantages.
And that there will be some dis
advantages was recognized by the board
members. Among those mentioned were
the necessity of removing home eco
nomics equipment from schools des
tined to be attended exclusively by
boys and removing shop equipment
from schools destined for girls. Nor
is it inconceivable that an all-girls
school might turn up with a football
field after the switch.
It is possible, said Sutherland, that
the survey might show the plan to be
totally impractical. In that event, the
idea would be summarily abandoned,
he said.
School Supt. Perry O. Walker was
instructed to make a preliminary study
of such matters as the cost of the
move, the incon
venience it might
cause some stu
dents and the ex
periences of other
school systems.
He was directed
to report back to
the board in four
weeks.
The comprehen
sive survey, it was
recognized, might
take as long as six months. But the
board agreed there was no great ur
gency in reaching a final decision. At
present only the first two elementary
grades are desegregated and the court-
approved pace of desegregation means
that high schools will not be affected
for several years yet. However, it was
suggested the study be inaugurated
promptly since plans are in progress
for construction of several new junior
and senior high schools, and the decis
ion on continuing or ending co-educa
tion will have a bearing on the type
and location of these buildings.
Separate schools for boys and girls in
the secondary level would not represent
anything new for New Orleans. This
was the practice followed in the pub
lic schools until 1953, the year before
the Brown decision. It is a practice
still followed in the parochial schools
here.
And in neighboring Jefferson Parish
last year, the school board made a
policy determination to divide pupils
by sex. One girls’ school already is in
operation there and debate is in prog
ress whether to enlarge it or to build
a second one.
(See LOUISIANA, Page 14)