Tuesday, August 14, 1956.
(Zip (Brttmbata Hxttavb
Two Negro Students Are Admitted As Freshmen To Woman's College
Two North Carolina Negroes have
been admitted as freshmen to the
Woman's College for the fall semester which opens next month. Mrs.
Bettye Ann Davis Tillman of Wadesboro and Elizabeth Jo Ann Smart
of Raleigh are the first Negroes to
be admitted to the school here, and
will live on the campus.
The two girls were among seven
Negroes who sought admission to
the college. Two did not complete
their credentials and three failed to
meet scholastic requirements.
"I expect no trouble," acting
Chancellor W. W. Pierson stated
yesterday. "They have satisfied the
requirements of admission, the declarations of the courts and the actions of the trustees."
Miss Mildred Newton, director of
admissions, said Mrs. Tillman and
Miss Smart will room together in a
wing of Anna Howard Shaw Hall, a
iiesnman dormitory, and will "share
a bathroom together."
Both new students have indicated
their intention of taking a bachelor
1 arts course. Mrs. Tillman plans
career in law and will concentrate
i political and social science. Miss
Smart's interest is in the field of
sociology and economics.
"I just hope I'll be able to make
success of it there," Mrs. Tillman
stated when contacted in Washing
ton, "Of course I'm happy . .
happy." A graduate of the Anson
County Training School, she was
salutatorian of her class and was
active in the school band, choral
work, the journalistic and dramatic
clubs, and was a school cheer
Jeader. Her husband, Benjamin D.
Tillman, is in the Navy assigned to
Los Angeles stationed Society, leadership organization.
Contacted at Blowing Rock, where
she is visiting friends, she said "I'm
so excited I don't know what to say.
I'm so very, very happy."
College officials had indicated
the U.
at San Francisco, Calif.
Miss Smart, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Monroe Smart of Raleigh, was
graduated from J. W. Ligon School
this year. She was the president of
her class, active in the Homemakers
of America, was a cheerleader, and
a member of the National Honor
prior to yesterday's announcement
that they would admit students who
were academically qualified. The
decision to accept the two girls
follows a federal court ruling made
last September.
tt# finrwlwrp /?eeorci /9u5J6jy9s'6>
Parents May Have Objections, But. . .
Calm Acceptance Of Negroes Seen At College
Three officials of the Woman's
College Student Government Association have expressed "confidence" that the more than 2,000
students enrolled for the fall term
"will accept calmly" the admission of two Negroes as resident
students at the college.
Dr. W. W. Pierson, acting chancellor of the college, emphasized
that "they will be treated as any
I other students, and have rights
j which will be protected."
The Negro students will have
I access to all the facilities of the
college, he stated, and added that
"no double standards in grading
will be tolerated." Also, he said,
"there will be no specious charity" with regard to academic records of the students.
In a telephone interview after
the announcement by college officials that Mrs. Bettye Ann Davis
Tillman of Wadesboro and Elizabeth Jo Ann Smart of Raleigh had
been admitted as freshmen, Sadye
Dunn of Bladenboro, president of
the student body for 1956-57, stated, "I am confident that things
Will go as usual internally, within
the student group. The only problem we might have will be external, from the parents of white students."
"I may be over-confident, but
I believe the students will accept
the situation calmly." She stated
that no special plans were under
way for a discussion of the admissions at the pre-school conference of student leaders in September.
Rose Wharton of Greensboro,
vice president of the Junior Class
and president of the incoming
Freshman Class until the Novem
ber class elections, expressed the
opinion that "they certainly
shouldn't be made to feel any hostility from the other students."
"I don't know how the situation
will be coped with, but I do hope
for the sake of the school that the
students will accept the situation
calmly," she said.
Terry Ann Garrison, also of
Greensboro, president of the Sophomore Class, commented that
"after working with the students
for a year, I feel that my classmates will react well to the situation." She added that "as I hold
a responsible position in the class,
I believe that reticence has its
merits" in discussing the new students. "Reaction to having Negroes on the campus will be purely a personal matter with each
student," she concluded.
Another member of the Junior
Class, Sue Sigmon of Charlotte,
will act ,as house president in
Shaw Hall, where the two Negro
students will be housed. She was
not available for comment when
the announcement was made.
The two students are the first
Negroes to be admitted to the
Woman's. College since a federal
court last September ruled that
the Consolidated University of
North Carolina must receive and
process the applications of Negro
students for admission as undergraduates.
Mrs. Tillman and Miss Smart ,
will room together in Shaw Hall,
and share a bathroom, according
to the college announcement. Both
students are planning to take the
bachelor of arts course. Mrs. Tillman plans a career in law and
Miss Smart in the field of sociology and economics.^
