30 March 1973
Dr. James S. Ferguson, Chancellor
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Campus
Dear Chancellor Ferguson:
In accordance with your request of 27 March that we determine
facts and offer suggestions with respect to the Student Senate's decision
of that date to reclassify the Neo-Black Society, we have now done
the following things: (1) Listened to tape recordings of the pertinent
parts of the Student Senate meeting of 20 March and to recordings of
all of both the "open" and "executive" Senate sessions of 26-27 March;
(2) heard appeals, rebuttals, and counter-rebuttals from delegations
representing both the Neo-Black Society and the Senate; and (3) interviewed at some length twelve individual witnesses. Two persons invited to appear as witnesses (Miss Karen Davis and Mr. Mark Carpenter)
refused to appear. Miss Charlotte Bennett, who at first agreed to
appear, did not in fact do so.
We have considered the evidence we have obtained, and wish
now to offer our observations, firstly, on the procedural aspects of
the case and, secondly, on the substantive.
Procedural aspects. We feel that the procedure followed by
the Senate was unacceptable in at least two respects:
1. New evidence of a substantial nature was introduced during
the executive session, beyond the scrutiny of the NBS
representatives. That evidence appears to have affected
the subsequent voting. We may note incidentally that we
have been able to investigate, to a degree, some of that
evidence, and we find it to be of doubtful validity.
2. It is the considered judgment of the committee that the
substance of the first set of charges (dated 19 February)
and of the second set of charges (by Mark Carpenter; undated, but presumably of 23 March) is essentially the same.
We therefore question the Senate's decision of 20 March
to exclude an NBS member (Miss Donna Benson) from voting
on the issue, when four Senators (Miss Karen Davis, Miss
Jeanelle Price, Mr. Tim Connoly, and Mr. Doug Harris)
having a close historical connection with the new charges,
as signers of the old, were allowed to vote.
Report of the faculty committee studying the UNCG Student Government Association/Neo-Black Society incident
Date
1973-03-30
Creator
Smith, Kendon
Subject headings
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Topics
UNCG Neo-Black Society
Place
Greensboro (N.C.)
Description
This report signed by Kendon Smith, Ernest Griffin, Harriet Kupferer, E. Doris McKinney, and Frankling D. Parker, and dated March 30, 1973, is the report of a faculty committee appointed by University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) Chancellor James Sharbrough Ferguson as part of the administrative review of the UNCG Student Government Association's (SGA) decision to reclassify (removed funding and recognition from) the Neo-Black Society. The committee found that the SGA decision involved questionable evidence and procedures. The SGA decision was overturned, resulting in an eventual legal case leading to the Neo-Black Society's reinstatement as a recognized and funded organization.
Type
text
Original format
reports
Original dimensions
8.5" x 11"
Original publisher
[Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified]
Language
en
Contributing institution
Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries
Source collection
UA2.8 Chancellor James Sharbrough Ferguson Records
NO COPYRIGHT - UNITED STATES. This item has been determined to be free of copyright restrictions in the United States. The user is responsible for determining actual copyright status for any reuse of the material.
Object ID
UA002.008.0416
Digital publisher
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5305 -- http://library.uncg.edu/
30 March 1973
Dr. James S. Ferguson, Chancellor
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Campus
Dear Chancellor Ferguson:
In accordance with your request of 27 March that we determine
facts and offer suggestions with respect to the Student Senate's decision
of that date to reclassify the Neo-Black Society, we have now done
the following things: (1) Listened to tape recordings of the pertinent
parts of the Student Senate meeting of 20 March and to recordings of
all of both the "open" and "executive" Senate sessions of 26-27 March;
(2) heard appeals, rebuttals, and counter-rebuttals from delegations
representing both the Neo-Black Society and the Senate; and (3) interviewed at some length twelve individual witnesses. Two persons invited to appear as witnesses (Miss Karen Davis and Mr. Mark Carpenter)
refused to appear. Miss Charlotte Bennett, who at first agreed to
appear, did not in fact do so.
We have considered the evidence we have obtained, and wish
now to offer our observations, firstly, on the procedural aspects of
the case and, secondly, on the substantive.
Procedural aspects. We feel that the procedure followed by
the Senate was unacceptable in at least two respects:
1. New evidence of a substantial nature was introduced during
the executive session, beyond the scrutiny of the NBS
representatives. That evidence appears to have affected
the subsequent voting. We may note incidentally that we
have been able to investigate, to a degree, some of that
evidence, and we find it to be of doubtful validity.
2. It is the considered judgment of the committee that the
substance of the first set of charges (dated 19 February)
and of the second set of charges (by Mark Carpenter; undated, but presumably of 23 March) is essentially the same.
We therefore question the Senate's decision of 20 March
to exclude an NBS member (Miss Donna Benson) from voting
on the issue, when four Senators (Miss Karen Davis, Miss
Jeanelle Price, Mr. Tim Connoly, and Mr. Doug Harris)
having a close historical connection with the new charges,
as signers of the old, were allowed to vote.
