NC A&T History test Study Guide

NC A&T and UNC System Study Guide

Structural Overview of the UNC System

  • 1. Multi-Campus System Composition: Comprises 17 total public institutions, including 16 universities (10 majority-white institutions, 5 Historically Black Colleges and Universities [HBCUs], and 1 Native American-majority institution [UNC Pembroke]).

  • 6. Head of the UNC System: The President.

  • 7. Head of Individual Campuses: The Chancellor.

  • 8. Governing Body: The Board of Governors (BOG), consisting of members elected by the North Carolina General Assembly for four-year terms to govern all state public institutions.

Founding and History of NC A&T

  • 2. Charter Date: March 9, 1891, when the General Assembly chartered the Agricultural and Mechanical College for the Colored Race.

  • 5. Building and Enrollment Dates: The main building in Greensboro was erected, and students were officially enrolled, in 1893.

  • 9. Joining the UNC System: Officially became a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina System in 1972.

  • 12. The 1890 Institutions: Public land-grant universities established under the Second Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1890. There are 19 universities part of the 1890s nationwide.

  • 14. Regional University Status: Designated as a regional university by the General Assembly in 1967, changing its name to Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina.

  • 35. Consolidated University (1931): Established by the General Assembly to combine UNC-Chapel Hill, NC State University, and UNC-Greensboro (then Woman's College).

  • 38. Latin Motto on the Seal: Mens et Manus, which translates to "Mind and Hand".

  • 40. Land Grant Act Date: The Second Morrill Act was passed on August 28, 1890.

Legal Battles and Desegregation (Adams v. Richardson)

  • 26. “Adams States”: Southern and border states (including North Carolina) that operated segregated higher education systems in violation of Title VI and were targeted by the Adams litigation.

  • 27. Adams v. Richardson (1973): A landmark federal class-action lawsuit brought by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund against the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) for failing to enforce Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 against segregated public school systems.

  • 28. Definitions:

    • Consent Decree: A judicial decree or agreement approved by a judge to resolve a dispute between parties without an admission of guilt or liability.

    • Class Action Suit: A lawsuit filed by one or more people on behalf of a larger group (class) of people sharing common interests.

  • 31. Use of Title VI: Title VI prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in programs receiving federal financial assistance. The NAACP used it to cut off federal funds to states maintaining dual, segregated higher education systems.

  • 32. OCR Desegregation Plans: The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) required NC to dismantle its historic dual system and submit systemic statewide plans to prove active desegregation and resource equity across its HBCUs and white institutions.

Federal Legislation & Definitions

  • 44. Morrill Act of 1890: Federal legislation requiring states to either demonstrate that race was not an admissions criterion or establish a separate land-grant college for persons of color.

  • 45. Higher Education Act of 1965 Definition of an HBCU: Defined legally as any historically black college or university established prior to 1964 whose principal mission was, and is, the education of black Americans, and which is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association.

  • NC A&T and UNC System Study Guide (Part 2)

    Governance and Institutional History

    • 3. Policy-Making Body: The Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina is legally charged with the governance, control, and management of all state public institutions.

    • 4. First Public University: The University of North Carolina (at Chapel Hill) chartered in 1789 and graduating students in 1798.

    • 10. First Ph.D. Degree: A&T granted its first doctoral degree in 2007 (in Electrical Engineering).

    • 11. First Winter Commencement: A&T held its first winter commencement in 1978.

    • 13. Board of Higher Education vs. Consolidated University: The Board of Higher Education (established in 1955) coordinated planning across various independent state colleges, whereas the Consolidated University (established in 1931) placed UNC-Chapel Hill, NC State, and UNC-Greensboro under a single president and board.

    • 15. Consolidated System Privilege: Institutions within the Consolidated System were permitted to offer doctoral programs, while colleges governed under the Board of Higher Education were initially restricted.

    • 16. Reorganization Proposal: Proposed by the Governor's Study Commission on Educational Structure (led by the Richardson Foundation and pushed by Governor Robert W. Scott) to eliminate duplication, streamline administration, and head off impending federal desegregation lawsuits.

    • 36. Student Government President on the Board of Trustees: The serving president of the student body at each campus automatically serves as an ex-officio member of that university's local Board of Trustees.

    • 37. A&T Leaders with Two Titles: Leaders like Warmoth T. Gibbs or Samuel DuBois Cook held dual administrative or historical titles during periods of transition (e.g., serving as President during the transition to Chancellor).

    • 39. Longest Serving Leader: Dr. Samuel Proctor served as the head of the institution for 14 years (1951–1964), though other leaders like Lewis Dowdy also served long tenures.

    • 41. HMSIs (Historically Minority-Serving Institutions): Institutions with a historically high enrollment of minority students. In the UNC System, this includes all five public HBCUs (NC A&T, NCCU, Winston-Salem State, Fayetteville State, Elizabeth City State) and UNC Pembroke (historically American Indian).

    Civil Rights, Integration, and Protests

    • 17. First Integration Case in NC: McKissick v. Carmichael (1948), which challenged UNC-Chapel Hill’s refusal to admit Black students to its law school.

    • 18. Impact of Gaines v. Canada: Set the legal precedent that states must provide within their borders equal higher education opportunities for Black students, forcing southern states to begin opening graduate/professional programs or face funding loss.

    • 19. First Land Grant College Charter: The first Morrill Land-Grant Act was passed by Congress on July 2, 1862.

    • 20. First State Institution to Enroll Black Undergraduates: UNC-Chapel Hill was ordered by federal courts to admit Black undergraduate students in 1951.

    • 21. Opposition to Restructuring: Heavily opposed by students, alumni, and faculty of the state's HBCUs, as well as some regional universities who feared losing their autonomy and unique missions.

    • 22. Why HBCU Students Opposed the Plan: They feared white-dominated governance boards would dilute Black institutional identity, phase out historic programs, close or demote HBCUs, and place white administrators at the head of historically Black schools.

    • 23. HBCU Student Protests and "Black Monday": Students at A&T, NCCU, and other HBCUs staged massive boycotts, marches, and rallies demanding equal funding, protection of HBCU leadership, and representation on the new BOG. Black Monday refers to the coordinated mass protests held in Raleigh by HBCU students and supporters against the restructuring bill in 1971.

    • 24. Change in Board of Trustees Responsibilities: Local campus boards of trustees had their absolute governance powers stripped and transferred to the centralized Board of Governors, reducing local boards to advisory and secondary oversight roles.

    • 25. Student Proposals for Boards: HBCU students proposed guaranteed seats for students and alumni on both the local Boards of Trustees and the statewide Board of Governors to ensure equitable representation.

    • 29. Issue in Adams v. Richardson: Whether the federal government (HEW) was legally failing to enforce Title VI by continuing to disburse federal education funds to southern states that maintained segregated, dual systems of higher education.

    • 30. Why NAACP Sued HEW: HEW was distributing billions in federal tax dollars to public school systems and universities that were openly violating civil rights laws by remaining racially segregated.

    • 33. Settlement of the 11-Year Dispute: Settled in 1981 (and later reinforced by subsequent partnership agreements in the late 1990s) when the UNC System agreed to implement specific desegregation, program enhancement, and resource-equity measures for its HBCUs.

    • 34. What UNC Pledged: Pledged millions in enhanced funding for academic programs unique to HBCUs, targeted recruitment of white students to HBCUs and Black students to white campuses, and the elimination of unnecessarily duplicated programs.

    Affirmative Action and Recent Supreme Court Cases

    • 42. Issue in SFFA v. UNC (2014–2022): Whether the University of North Carolina's race-conscious undergraduate admissions policy violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

    • 43. Supreme Court Decision in June 2023: The Supreme Court ruled that race-conscious admissions programs at UNC and Harvard violated the Equal Protection Clause, effectively ending affirmative action in college admissions nationwide.