Home / Full timeline / Federal funds are withheld for public universities in North Carolina after their plan to desegregate its universities is deemed unacceptable.
Federal funds are withheld for public universities in North Carolina after their plan to desegregate its universities is deemed unacceptable.
1978 (Mar 22)
Joseph A. Califano, Jr., secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW), announced that he would withhold some federal funds for public universities in North Carolina because that state had “failed to submit an acceptable plan to eliminate the vestiges of segregation." At the same time, the HEW secretary "initiated formal administrative action" that could result in a withdrawal of all federal funds for the sixteen universities in North Carolina, which were once legally segregated. At the time of this action, eleven of the schools were still predominantly White (91.2 percent) and five predominantly Black (91.6 percent). On February 3, 1978, HEW had rejected North Carolina's plan to desegregate its universities but accepted a proposal for its 57 community colleges. North Carolina was one of six Southern states under a federal court order to submit an acceptable plan to HEW by February 3. It was the only one of the six states that did not fully comply.
References:
- • Hornsby, Alton. Chronology of African-American History: Significant Events and People from 1619 to the Present. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995.