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Storyline · 1965

Students for Teachers, 1965

In May 1965 students formed Students for Teachers after the English Department declined to rehire a lecturer known for his teaching, who said he was let go for not publishing. After a rally in Y Court and a march to South Building, Chancellor Paul F. Sharp named faculty members to a joint faculty-student committee on teaching and the student role in academic affairs and sent the dismissal to the faculty hearings committee.

1965 Filed under UNC & Campus Life 3 dated events

On May 5, 1965 about 175 students met in Howell Hall and formed Students for Teachers after the English Department declined to rehire a lecturer known for his classroom work, who said he was let go for not publishing. On May 10 about 250 people at a noon rally in Y Court demanded a clear statement of why he had not been rehired and protested what speakers called a publish-or-perish policy, then marched to South Building and Bingham Hall to deliver the group's proposals to Chancellor Paul F. Sharp and the English chairman, both of whom were out. After meeting the group's leaders on May 12, Sharp named five faculty members to a joint committee with four student government appointees to explore teaching, research and the student role in academic affairs, and referred the dismissal to the Faculty Committee on Hearings, while saying the University had not given in to the students' demands on hiring.

Towns
Chapel Hill
People with pages
3

The events, date by date

Every statement above comes from these dated entries in the chronology. Each links to its source.

  1. Students for Teachers forms to protest the University's publish-or-perish pressure About 175 students met in Howell Hall and formed Students for Teachers after the English Department declined to rehire a lecturer known for his classroom work who said he was let go for not publishing. Organizer Pete Wales announced a delegation to Chancellor Paul F. Sharp and an open-air rally; department chairman George Harper had cited lack of publication and age, according to the Daily Tar Heel. Place: Howell Hall, UNC, Chapel Hill · Also named: Pete Wales, George Harper, Paul F. SharpSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, May 6, 1965, p. 1
  2. Students for Teachers rallies in Y Court and marches on South Building over an instructor's dismissal About 250 people attended a noon rally of Students for Teachers in Y Court that demanded a clear statement of why the English Department had not rehired a popular instructor and protested what speakers called a publish-or-perish policy. The crowd then marched to South Building and Bingham Hall to deliver the group's proposals to Chancellor Sharp and the English chairman, both of whom were out. People: Paul Dickson III Place: Y Court and South Building, UNC, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Bingham HallSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, May 11, 1965, p. 1
  3. Chancellor Sharp names faculty to a joint faculty-student committee after the Students for Teachers protest After meeting Students for Teachers leaders on May 12, Chancellor Paul F. Sharp named five faculty members to a joint committee with four student-government appointees to explore teaching, research and the student role in academic affairs, and he referred the instructor's dismissal to the Faculty Committee on Hearings. Sharp said the University had not acceded to the students' demands on hiring. People: Paul F. Sharp, William F. Little Place: South Building, UNC, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, May 15, 1965, p. 1

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People with a page of their own whom the dated events above name, those named most often first.

Further reading

No indexed work is about this storyline itself yet. These are the most widely held histories of the theme it is filed under, so they may not discuss it. Follow a link to find a copy or view the material.

Background on UNC & Campus Life · the most widely held histories of the theme this storyline is filed under; they may not discuss it

Carolina Basketball: A Century of Excellence

Lucas, Adam · 2010 · University of North Carolina Press

Adam Lucas marks one hundred years of basketball at the University of North Carolina in this illustrated history, published by UNC Press in 2010 in association with the athletics department. Chapters follow the program from the game's arrival on campus and the 'White Phantoms' of the Southern Conference through the founding of the ACC, the 1957 season, Dean Smith's changes to the game and the title seasons of 1982, 1993, 2005 and 2009, closing with a century of statistics. 289 pages.

The Blue Divide: Duke, North Carolina, and the Battle on Tobacco Road

Moore, Johnny; Chansky, Art · 2014 · Triumph Books

The Duke and North Carolina basketball rivalry written together by Johnny Moore and Art Chansky, the latter a sports reporter who has followed it since his student days at UNC. The book opens with the 2014 season and moves through recruiting battles old and new, 'Black and Blue Sunday', 'Blood and Roses', and chapters on the rivalry's heroes, leaders and teachers, with a foreword by Jay Bilas and a photo gallery. Published by Triumph Books in 2014, 289 pages.

Miss Mary's Money

Jones, H. G. · 2014 · McFarland & Co.

H. G. Jones follows the fortune of Mary Ruffin Smith (1814-1885), the unmarried heiress whose Orange and Chatham County lands passed at her death to the University of North Carolina and the Episcopal Church. Chapters profile her grandfather Francis Jones, then trace the bequest through a quarrel among Episcopalians over Price Creek, the Chapel of the Cross and the university's buildings. A December 1885 New York Times report called the gift money; Jones shows it was land. Published by McFarland in 2014, 231 pages.

The Chronicles of the Bicentennial Observance of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Tepper, Steven J. · 1998

Steven J. Tepper's chronicle of how the University of North Carolina marked its bicentennial in 1993 and 1994. An appendix reprints the University Day speeches of October 12, 1993, given by Paul Hardin, James B. Hunt Jr., C.D. Spangler, William C. Friday, Charles Kuralt and President Bill Clinton, plus bicentennial addresses by Li Lu, Francis S. Collins and Richard J. Richardson. Published by the university in Chapel Hill, 1998; 284 pages.

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William Friday

Link, William A. · 1995

Biography of William C. Friday, president of the University of North Carolina system, by historian William A. Link, published by UNC Press in 1995 with the subtitle power, purpose, and American higher education. It covers Friday's career and the history of the university at Chapel Hill and statewide. Part of the Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection.

Chapel Hill in Plain Sight

Athas, Daphne · 2010 · Eno Publishers

Twelve essays by novelist Daphne Athas (1923-2020) on the Chapel Hill she knew across the twentieth century. Subjects include Carrboro as 'the Paris of the Piedmont', philosopher Horace Williams, Betty Smith writing in Chapel Hill, Junius Scales, Ab Abernethy and the Intimate Bookshop, Richard Wright's visit, and a set of Chapel Hill murders. Published 2010, 243 pages with illustrations.

What it means to be a Tar Heel: Roy Williams and North Carolina's greatest players

Fowler, Scott · 2010 · Triumph Books

Scott Fowler gathers recollections from Carolina basketball players, decade by decade from the 1950s to the 2000s, organized around Roy Williams and the question in the title. Contributors include Lennie Rosenbluth, Larry Brown, Billy Cunningham, Charlie Scott, Phil Ford, James Worthy, Brad Daugherty, Eric Montross, Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Raymond Felton and Sean May, each entry giving position and playing years. Published 2010 by Triumph Books of Chicago, 270 pages, here as an e-book.

The Campus of the First State University

Henderson, Archibald · 1949

Archibald Henderson's history of the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, its buildings and grounds from the founding in the 1790s onward. Henderson, a professor of mathematics and a prolific historian of the university, wrote it in the years around the university's sesquicentennial. Published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1949, 412 pages with illustrations and bibliographical footnotes.

Reviewed in The Journal of Southern History (1949), South Atlantic Quarterly (1950).

The Woman Who Rang the Bell: The Story of Cornelia Spencer Phillips

Russell, Charles Phillips · 1949

Charles Phillips Russell's biography of Cornelia Phillips Spencer (1825-1908), the Chapel Hill writer remembered for ringing the bell of South Building when the university reopened in 1875 after its closure during Reconstruction. It doubles as a history of Chapel Hill and the university. Published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1949, 293 pages with illustrations.

Reviewed in Journal of American History (1949).

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Friends of the Orange County Public Library. “Students for Teachers, 1965.” Orange County Indexed, https://focplnc.org/orange-county-books/storylines/students-for-teachers-storyline-1965/. Accessed October 22, 2026.

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