University of Virginia Library

Duke Incidents Polarize
Blacks, Administration

Reprinted from "The Duke Chronicle"

The occupation of the first floor
of Allen Building by 60 black
students is now a fact for the
history books, though the full
extent of the repercussions of this
act will probably not be known for
years.

However, the question that
remains unanswered in most minds
is "Why at Duke?" or more
specifically, why did the black
students feel it necessary to take
this particular action at this particular
time?

Chuck Hopkins, ex-president of
the Afro-American Society has said
that the events of February 13th
"exposed the racist nature of this
University," a facet of the university
which he said the blacks had
been facing for over two years.

To most of the administration,
the charge of "racism" has a bitter
ring.

After significant debate, Duke
admitted its first black students in
1963. At first their numbers were
quite small, but increased acceptances
over the last two or three
years led to a total of slightly over
100 black students on campus this
fall, out of an enrollment of 8,000.

Sources within the administration
are quick to point out
Duke's increasing commitment to
racial justice both on campus and in
the surrounding community.

In 1963, Duke was the first
university in the nation to establish
the post of vice president for
regional affairs. The man who holds
that post, Everett H. Hopkins,
helped to form thy Durham antipoverty
agency known as Operation
Breakthrough.

In 1964, Duke began a tutorial
program to help Negro high school
students prepare for college.

The law school opened a legal
aid clinic last fall, and is presently
conducting an intense campaign to
recruit minority group students.
Also last fall, the university
launched "Project Outreach," designed
to provide advisory and
financial aid for Negro businessmen
in Durham.

With regard to racial problems
within the University community
itself, the administration throughout
the recent crisis repeatedly
referred to the progress that had
already been made toward meeting
the blacks' demands. But even they
had to admit that until this year,
too little had been done to improve
the conditions of black students on
campus.

Negotiations had been going on
since the blacks submitted their
original demands in October, they
said, and either agreement or public
commitment to action had been
reached on all of these.

Four months after they were
originally proposed, Dr. Knight
made his first public response to
the October demands. He promised
to direct the Provost and the
Undergraduate Faculty Council to
develop a program for blacks who
would enter as freshmen next fall.
He suggested a parallel program to
prepare students who flunked out
of Duke after first semester. He also
hinted that he had resigned from
the segregated Hope Valley
Country Club.

Then a new list of "proposals"
was submitted to Knight when the
Afros visited University House with
Dick Gregory. This list was almost
identical to the demands issued
from inside the first floor of Allen
Building nine days later. Both lists
called for reinstatement of black
students who "because of Duke's
stifling cultural and social environment,"
had failed to achieve sufficient
academic standing to remain
enrolled. Another demand was for a
black advisor who would be "acceptable"
to the black students.
They also asked for the establishment
of a black dormitory, and a
program of Afro-American studies.

Knight responded to the proposals
given to him at University
House by saying that they would
"be given the kind of consideration
they deserve, and will be considered
without any of the delays of which
people are so suspicious these
days."

Then, to the surprise of almost
everyone in Duke's white community,
two days after this statement
was released the blacks took over
the first floor of Allen Building.

The blacks had some appreciation
of the efforts the University
was making in the external community,
but these things had no
real effect on their own lives here at
Duke. The black student had also
developed a sense of frustration
which was turning into anger, from
their extended negotiations with
the administration. As one black
student put it, "the things we were
asking for, such as an advisor,
courses, and books in the library we
could relate to, a barber who would
cut our hair, and a living environment
relevant to our interests and
culture, were all things that white
students here take for granted. The
U supplies all of these things for
white students, but the blacks have
to spend months in negotiations to
get them."

So the blacks were prompted to
take action by their sense of
frustration. They also felt that
occupation of a building would give
them a power base from which to
conduct more urgent and viable
negotiations.

The occupation also came two
days after the end of Black Week,
in which the Afros for the first time
really started working together.
According to one black student,
"before Black Week, the Afro-American
Society had been mostly
a social club, but the week gave us a
sense of how much we could
accomplish by working together.
For the first time we were showing
our own worth without having to
compete with white men to do it.

"We had discovered that we
could do something with our
blackness," he said, "and the
occupation of Allen Building affirmed
the commitment of those
who had just begun to feel pride in
their blackness."

This same student felt that there
was no real respect for students -
black or white - among the
administration. "There is an acceptance
that we are there and should
be helped," he said, "but there is
no real respect. Unless people
respect you, they won't give you
any power. By their refusal to give
us any power, the administration is
showing that they have no real
respect for us."

So thus are revealed two very
different attitudes towards the
occupation of Allen Building. The
administration felt that progress
was being made, that the demands
were being worked on. So it was
"unfortunate" that the blacks decided
to take the action they did.
From the blacks' point of view, the
negotiations had been more frustrating
than productive.