Ban Against Segregation
Applicable To Colleges,
Supreme Court Rules^
(Judge denies motion to dismiss case by Negro parents seeking integration of school in McDpwell
ICounty, Page 4, this section.) , Yv^e^J^C, I H$^
WASHINGTON, March 5 (7P)—The Supreme Court today extended to tax-supported colleges and universities its ban on racial segregation in public schools.
It did so without a spoken word and ina manner usually reserved for routine cases.
The court's brief order said, in effect, the historic doctrine of "separate but equal"
also is dead in the field of higher education supported by taxpayers.
It was included in a three-page list of orders, mostly in rather ordinary cases, which
was made public by the court's clerk.
I As in its May 17, 1954, decision striking down segregation of white and Negro
_^ 'pupils in public schools, the court's
ON COIXEGE SEGREGATION
Order Of Court
Is Final Result
| BY DAVID E. GREENE
Greensboro Dajl3>. News Stall Writer
The Supreme Court, acting on a
North Carolina case, yesterday affirmed a decision that tax-supported
colleges and universities cannot
deny Negroes admissiofi solely on
the basis of race. . i \ '■
The high court's order ^was the
final result of a suit broVght in
June, 1955, on behalf/ of\ three
Durham Negro youths who' had
earlier been denied admission' to
the University of North Carolina.
Filed in the clerk's office, Her
of Middle District Court, the*Ait
brought by the parents of
Leroy Benjamin Frazier Jr. and
Ralph Kennedy Frazier, brothers,
and John Lewis Brandon.
About three months after the
lit was filed, a three-judge federal court in Greensboro ruled thai
the Consolidated University , ol
North' Carolina had no right to
deny admission on the basis of
Three Admitted
| Subsequently, the three youths
Were admitted to the ur'
but trustees of the institution voted
to'appeal the three-judge court';
decision to the Supreme Court.
T*AHrTyesterday, in 11 words, the
Supreme Court upheld the decision
y granting a motion to affirm it
/without hearing arguments
The Supreme Court's 11-word
arder was this: "The motion
firm is granted and the judgment
is \ affirmed." ..
.The original decision returned by
the three judges who presided
trial, of the case on Sept. 10, 1955,
included;*these remarks:
"We decide only that the Negro
as a class.may not be excluded because of their race or color; and
the Board, (of trustees) retains
the po^er-to decide whether the
applicants-vf.Rpssess the , necessary
qualifications.-:. .****>
'- '^tWX\\ Units , '
Since the ruling, now upheld by
the Supreme^>Court, was directed
against the'Gohsolidated University,
it has effecti.pa the policy of the
university rUnit fvat Chapel Hill,
State College,.'at. Raleigh and
Woman's College. gt^ Greensboro.
Atty. Gen."*William B. Rodman
carried the appeal''to the Siupremi
Court as 'couhsef^or'.the state and
the Consolida'tidLThiversity.
He asked t$e.*jp4ghrcourt to
verse its own' cfecisipA of May 31,
1954, which helH*thaVi?acial segregation in public >-schppls was unconstitutional. '"• * ''*'*'
Rodman also aflced a return to
the doctrine of "separate but equal"
facilities, and argued that the
Supreme Court in effect amended
the Constitution and thus exceeded
its authority in the historic decision
Subsequent unanimous decisions
have outlawed segregation in public parks, playgrounds and golf
Affirmed in 13 words was a deci-
m by a special three-judge fed-
al court in Greensboro, N.C,
which prdered three Negroes admitted to the University of North
Carolina.
lower court rejected as
"without merit" the contention of
' -ersity officials that the 1954
decision did not apply in colleges
-nd universities.
'Reasoning .. . Applicable*
The three-judge court said the
iupreme Court's 1954 decision was
imited to the facts before it, "but
he reasoning on which the de-
ision was based is as applicable to
schools of higher education as to
schools on the lower level."
University officials, in appealing
from the ruling, asked the Supreme
Court to reverse itself and wipe out
original segregation ruling "be-
se it is not within the power
1 authority of this court to
amend the Constitution; that power
given only to the people and
their elected representatives."
Without Hearings
Counsel for the three Negroes
nvblved in the litigation asked the
high court in a brief to affirm
i decision of the special court at
ce without the customary hear-
j of arguments. This the court
1, saying: "The motion to affirm
grantee and the judgment is affirmed."
The university admitted the three
egroes while carrying on its ap-
•al. They are Leroy B. Frasier Jr.,
Ralph K. Frasier, brothers, and
John L. Brandon, all of Durham,
N.C.
The university appeal, signed by
the state attorney general, William
B. Rodman Jr., and other attorneys,
said North Carolina had made
equal provision for Negroes in colleges supported by taxpayers.
The "separate but equal" doctrine
was laid down by the Supreme
Court more than half a century
ago and, in general, was the law
governing segregation until the
1954 public schools ruling which
overturned it. ,
Civil Rights Greensboro
