Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

f SOUTHERN SCHOOL NEWS—MARCH, 1964—PAGE 5 TEXAS State Jury Says W ill Provisions •Impracticable’ HOUSTON 4 state court jury held “im practicable” the two major restrictions placed by the founder 0 { Rice University in his bequest which founded the Houston school. (Rice v. Carr, filed Feb. 21,1963) The jury of seven men and five women, including one Negro woman and one Negro man, found that William Marsh Rice, who left his fortune for creation of the institution in 1891, in tended that it would be used for the instruction of white students only, and without any tuition charge. But the jury agreed with the asser tion of Rice University trustees, and ' others, that the prohibition on race and tuition would prevent the develop ment of a first-quality university. State District Judge W. M. Holland was to decide later whether Rice may admit Negroes and charge tuition. He indicated the decision would come dur ing March. Cites Funds Missed Dr. Kenneth Pitzer, president of Rice, said that the university cannot get > federal funds or hold top staff members without desegregation. Pitzer said he himself may leave. Pitzer said a $10,- 000,000 Ford Foundation research grant was lost because of this and the no- tuition policy, and that Rice is threat ened with loss of its Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps program. Dr. Carey Croneis, Rice Chancellor, said the campus may become “an in tellectual desert” unless the founder’s provisions are changed. George S. Brown of Houston, chair man of the Board of Trustees, said the university faces a financial crisis unless it is allowed to charge tuition. Now i h as a system of fees, but no tui- 1 tion. Its student body numbers about ’000, and has generally represented top-quality students. Gr. Logan Wilson, president of the American Council on Education and ■winer Chancellor of the University of Texas, testified that the restrictions must be removed if Rice becomes a 1 Treat university. We really had a caste system in the touth when Mr. Rice was living,” Dr. ulson told the jury. “Now the South Part of the United States. If you’re going to make a fetish out this race issue and run institutions — ~it belong to the 19th rather than the ■ '’“'century, that is your privilege.” iri “ e witness said probably few Ne- n ~ 6 063 would attend Rice, but the uni- rid* sd est£ i Florida ^ 5 f Con tinued From Page 4) matt hil- jsef- tes 6 i it; gJjC era' *lect e ^°,^ r ' ^ ore than 200 persons aij a ran dom were asked to an- ^Pded CX * ;ens * ve questionnaire. This aiCe of ^ Ues ti°ns about the accept - 55 Well a egroes in all campus activities The Tj S - m classroom. ^Ptw mV ;f Sity M'arru has been ; ( 3fs ' r ' e &ro students for three K H 0W ~° longer kee P s racial rec- polled ^ 6Ver ’, som e 30 Negroes are l *- were ''"dents an^^^smen or graduate ,!si stant- n seve ral Negro graduate . nave tpanVi,r,rf he* it^ Ho ave teaching duties. There -kfa, au-timo w , . _ 3 fcsso rs ~ dtne Negro instructors or The * ★ ★ jerc- is*: V 5* .T "lassie-, department of Education .'f'etarj, Gibbs Junior College of V? 1 accnJ!- 33 a desegregated insti- ,, i-’-S. Ofs 1118 1° notification sent of Education. K but k , ded Primarily by Ne- i , " a f had several white in- • e^dificate * 6 ^ acu lty and awarded t, hr. j , 0 one white student last i-. the c -,, Rembert, president, 'Ks e§e ' s open to students 01 race. ■ Texas Highlights A jury called “impracticable” the founder’s will for Rice University, which called for white students only and prohibited tuition. University of Texas regents or dered a biracial policy for new- apartment housing for married stu dents. Negro students appeared as the first of their race to represent the university in intercollegiate ath letics. A Negro college president at Aus tin said he does not sanction stu dents participating in racial demon strations. A federal circuit court approved, with minor modification, George town Independent School District’s desegregation program. versity owes a responsibility to help this 10 per cent of the nation’s popula tion improve their leadership. Dr. Harry Ransom, now Chancellor at the University of Texas, said North ern universities currently are recruit ing the South’s best Negro brains to help them attract federal and private research grants. “Truly great universities must attract both federal and private research grants,” said Ransom. The witness added that he knows of no major university, except Rice, which operates without charging tuition. Faculty Talent Ransom said that race barriers kept universities from attracting the best faculty talent, as well as students. In the effort to help Negroes and to attract funds, Ransom said Northern universities “which found themselves without Negroes in some programs are now trying to attract the best Negro brains in the South.” Ex-students Val Billups and John P. Coffee are opposing the trustees effort to modify the all-white, nontuition policy. Their attorney said a decision on appealing the case will be made after the trial judge’s ruling is an nounced. ★ ★ ★ University of Texas Takes Further Steps Further steps toward desegregation were taken at the University of Texas, which began the process in 1950 under a U.S. Supreme Court order to admit a Negro to its law school. (Sweatt v. Painter.) The Board of Regents approved plans for constructing a $1,800,000 dormitory for married students, and specified it would accept students without regard to race—a requirement for getting a federal agency to underwrite the reve nue bonds. The board also authorized use of Kin solving Dormitory for all races attend ing conferences and short courses on the campus during the summer. Kin solving, a girls’ dormitory, has been restricted to whites only, and is in volved in a lawsuit filed by integra- tionists to abolish all racial restrictions. (Sanders v. Ransom, filed Nov. 8, 1961) The regents’ latest moves remove segregation policies in every place un der their jurisdiction, except dormitor ies involved in the above litigation. Music and Athletics Edward Guinn Jr., a Fine Arts major, became the first Negro member of the University of Texas marching band and appeared publicly as a member at a basketball game. Oliver Patterson and James Means, also Negroes, be came the first of their race to represent the university in varsity athletics. They are sprinters on the track team. Neither was recruited as an athlete, however. The Daily Texan, campus newspaper, publicized the lack of desegregation in social fraternities and sororities. There are separate Greek-letter organizations for these races. The paper noted: “Negroes can go through fraternity rush. They always could, according to Inter-Fraternity Council, the Texan discovered last week. “Yet Alpha Phi Alpha, the univer sity’s only Negro fraternity, is not a member of the IFC, and a Negro has never signed up for IFC rush. As the Texan pointed out in an editorial re cently: ‘Negroes may knock at the door of the Greek Speak Easy, but being sent by the IFC probably won’t get them inside.’ ” ★ ★ ★ Houston school officials considered a suggestion to desegregate school census taking. Part of the state’s financial aid to districts is based on the number of school-age residents. Most state aid is based on average daily attendance, however. Houston has employed Ne- GEORGIA Bibb County Files Stairstep Plan To Extend Over Nine-Year Period MACON n compliance with a U.S. Dis trict Court order, the Bibb County Board of Education (Ma con) on Feb. 24 proposed a desegregation plan for public schools in the county. It would start with the 12th grade in September of this year and extend over a nine-year period to the first grade. Attorney Donald L. Hollowell of At lanta, representing 44 Negro children and their parents in the desegregation suit filed last August after the school board refused to act without a court order, said he would have “quite a few objections” to the plan. The plaintiffs have until March 16 to file objections. Judge W. A. Bootle is sued an order Jan. 24 for the board to submit the plan by Feb. 24. Similar to Atlanta Plan The plan is similar to the reverse- stairstep desegregation plan adopted for Atlanta schools in 1961 and put into effect in the Chatham County (Sa vannah) school system in 1963. It was approved by a U.S. District Court and upheld by a U.S. appellate court but is expected to be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court next fall. The Bibb County board said, “It is the eventual plan of the board to estab lish a single unitary system of resi dential areas for school placement, without distinction as to race, but this cannot be accomplished immediately.” The board said it “considers it utter ly impracticable at the present time, or within the near future, to reassign teachers, principals and other profes sional personnel on any basis different from the present practice, and does not include in this plan any proposal to do so. As the plan progresses that may become partially or wholly prac ticable and will be studied and con sidered when the time seems appropriate.” Vocational Education In the vocational education program, however, the board said, “it is a part of the proposed plan that no applicant will be denied admission in the future to any vocational program under the control of the board, or transfer from one program to another, solely because of his or her race.” One Negro has been admitted to a class at Dudley Hughes Vocational School in Macon and two new voca tional programs were approved in February by the board to be operated with federal funds on a nondiscrimina- tory basis. In reference to the overall desegrega tion plan, the board said “it is implicit in the subject which is dealt with in this proposal that upon the first step being taken in accordance with the plan hereby proposed, or even in an ticipation thereof, frictions may arise of more or less severity.” But the board said it “is resolved groes to take the census in areas where Negroes predominantly live, and whites in other areas. John Eaton, director of the Houston school census, said some Negroes are suspicious of white enumerators, and he asserted also, “it wouldn’t be safe for a Negro to go into some white parts of the city.” Eaton said Negro scholastics are in creasing faster than whites in Houston, with a six per cent increase for Negroes and two per cent for whites this school year over last. The new count shows 162,612 white and 60,299 Negro school- agers in the Houston district. Miscellaneous Speedup Ordered For Georgetown Georgetown Independent School Dis trict was ordered to desegregate the first two grades of its system in Sep tember, 1964, and one grade annually thereafter by the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (Miller v. Barnes, filed September 1962). The trial court had approved the board’s plan for grade-a-year desegre gation, which Negro plaintiffs asserted was too slow. The circuit court speeded up the schedule for the first year only. Plaintiffs contended for desegregating five grades in 1963, three in 1964, and the remainder in 1965. Georgia Highlights A desegregation plan which would start with the 12th grade this fall and mix white and Negro students in all grades by the 1972-73 school term was submitted to a federal court by the Bibb County (Macon) Board of Education. Negro plaintiffs have until March 16 to object. A group of white property owners in Macon protested the proposed site of a Negro school. and pledges itself to act with responsi ble planning and with continuing and complete obedience to the orders and directions of this court is bringing about the transitions herein proposed. “The board anticipates the full co operation of the enforcement officers of the local and state governments, and will lend its best effort to creating a climate which will avoid, or as far as possible minimize, any disruption of the school program by reason of such possible frictions or conflicts.” Transfers Provided The plan provides for acceptance of applications for transfer without distinction based on race in all 12th grades in the system for the school year beginning in September. There after, the plan would be similarly applied in all 11th and 19th grades for 1965-66, in all ninth grades for 1966-67, all eighth grades for 1967-68, all seventh grades for 1968-69, all sixth and fifth grades for 1969-70, all fourth grades for 1970-71, all third and sec ond grades for 1971-72, and all first grades for 1972-73, thus becoming ap plicable to all grades in 1972-73. Under the plan, the board would establish a period beginning after court approval of the plan and ending 30 days thereafter for filing of written applications for transfers and reassign ments from one school in the system to the 12th grade of another school in the system for the 1964-65 school year. Written forms would be prepared and supplied for making such application, together with a statement of the rules of procedure applicable to the applica tions. Up to Superintendent The superintendent of schools would be authorized to approve or disapprove applications. He “will take into account the factors which presently guide him in the placement of pupils and those which are in accordance with sound and generally observed practices in the field of public school education throughout the country, with a view to the establishment, maintenance and operation of a public school system in Bibb County of the highest attainable caliber and quality for the benefit of all the children of the county, and with a view toward the eventual elimination of compulsory racial segregation in all grades within the system.” The plan continued to say that the superintendent would give written notice of his action on the applications and would inform the applicants with respect to their rights to administra tive review and appeal, and all such applications “will be processed and acted upon without distinction based solely on race.” Students first entering the system in 1964-65 in the 12th grade “will be af forded without distinction based solely on race the opportunity to request original assignment to the school of their choice in accordance with pres ently established procedure.” The board also would establish under the plan “a committee or group of not less than six or more than eight mem bers composed of principals or other teaching or administrative personnel of the various schools in the system, to consist of an equal number of white and Negro members, which will be rec ognized as a recommendatory commit tee with which the superintendent of the school system or other adminis trative personnel designated by the superintendent will discuss and con sider proposals, suggestions, complaints and other matters involving this plan.” The committee will have “authority to make recommendations to the sup erintendent, and through him to the board, but this authority is not to supersede any existing authority within the system.” The board acted on the plan at a closed meeting. Earlier, after reporters sought to obtain information, Dr. H. G. Weaver, board president, noted that various news media had re quested permis sion to be at the meeting or meet- i n g s involving consideration of the plan, and said discussion, prep aration and ap proval of the plan constitutes a part of the court proceedings, and it would be violative of the board’s obligation to the court to permit others to see it prior to submission to the court. The Macon News urged Negroes, in the interest of community good will, to accept the plan and co-operate in its implementation. Negro Baptist ministers, however, denounced the plan as “inadequate and far from being candid or sound.” Negroes Object The Baptist Ministers Brotherhood of Macon said that Negroes “insist on ex ercising all of our constitutional and all other rights not tomorrow, not next year, not in the next nine or ten years. We want them here and now—today.” The ministers said desegregation “should commence with the elementary grades and work upward.” The statement added that “Negroes do not subscribe to nor condone grad ualism, especially that brand which the white man wants the Negro to ob serve.” While the group indicated it did not expect school desegregation all at once, it said, “We should not, we can not, we must not be nine, 10 or 12 years hence desegregating our public school system.” The statement was signed by the Rev. E. S. Evans as president and the Rev. Charlie L. Wilson as recording secretary of the Ministers Brotherhood. ★ ★ ★ White property owners in the Co lumbus Road-Burton Avenue area of Macon protested to the Bibb County Board of Education early in February against location of an elementary school for Negroes on Anthony Road. The group asked for a public hearing. At the board’s January meeting, authorization for purchase of a 14-acre site for a school on Anthony Road and Columbus Road had been given. A board spokesman said it had not been determined whether a school for Negroes or whites would be located on the property and it would depend on whether the purchaser of a nearby larger tract of land develops it as a white or Negro residential section. A petition signed by 283 property owners objected to a plan by the board to relieve crowded conditions in Pleas ant Hill (a Negro section) by building a new school in the disputed area and transporting Negro students by bus there. R. A. McCord, chairman of the board’s special school needs commit tee, said another school is needed to relieve crowded conditions in Pleasant Hill but the price of property there would be prohibitive. He said the pro posed new school would mean five Negro schools would be located on Anthony Road, and added he was look ing for a Pleasant Hill site because another school would have to be built in that area within five years. What They Say Senators Score Rights Measure U.S. Sens. Richard B. Russell and Herman Talmadge, addressing the General Assembly of Georgia, criti cized the proposed civil-rights bill. Russell said the bill was bad dur ing the Kennedy admini s t r a t i on “and even worse” in the Johnson administration. Later in the month, R u s s e 11 said the South is being discrimi- RUSSell nated against in (See GEORGIA, Page 6)