First black UNC students return to speak

Fifty-five years ago today, UNC’s first black undergraduate students set foot on campus. On Friday, they will do so once again.

On Sept. 16, 1955, Ralph Frasier, his brother LeRoy Frasier and John Brandon were the first black students to be admitted to UNC.

Their enrollment came after an original denial from UNC to admit the men because of their skin color and a lawsuit filed against the Board of Trustees by the Frasier brothers.

The North Carolina lower federal court was unanimous in its ruling that qualified black students could not be denied admission because of their race.

The University then appealed to the United States Supreme Court that reached the same verdict.

The desegregation celebration begins Friday to honor the men and the history they made at UNC.

The three men, who are being called the Desegregation Soldiers, will share their stories in the Sonja Haynes Stone Center auditorium and answer questions from audience members. More than 500 students are expected to attend.

Geeta Kapur, assistant professor of law and an organizer of the event, said during her time at UNC as an undergraduate and law student, she’d never heard the story of the first African American students’ experience.

After finding an old picture of them, she contacted Ralph Frasier, who visited UNC in February.

Kapur said when she saw students react to his story, she knew the men needed to be properly honored.

“It then became a mission of mine to make sure that they were honored for the sacrifice that they made,” she said. “What they endured really is the Carolina story, and they need to be honored.”

“From my perspective, we’ve got two men who are very important figures in African American history at UNC-CH.”

Students said they’re excited to hear the men speak.

“As a student scholar, this just means so much to me,” said senior B’anca Glenn, executive assistant for the Black Student Movement. “They took a step that a lot of people during that time did not take and could not take.”

The University will host a dinner where staff and faculty members can speak to the men more intimately.

“I felt like it needed to be a priority of the University to honor these men for their role in the development of the campus as we see it today,” Kapur said.

“It became important to me that the University have a chance to reconcile for past mistakes.”

The men will also be honored before the game at Kenan Stadium — where they once were not allowed to sit in the student section.

“It’s really an inspiration to me to see people, in a time when I don’t have that much against me or as blatantly as they did,” Glenn said.

“There’s nothing that could hold me back.”

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