Dickson v. Sitterson, 1966–1968

In the chronology

Chronology entries for this event, in date order. See these 12 dated events in the chronology →

1. 1966 Eunice Milton serves as president of the campus YWCA The Daily Tar Heel called Milton the YWCA president when it reported the filing of the Speaker Ban suit on April 1, 1966, and the former YWCA president when it reported on the case in May. People: Eunice H. Milton, James A. Medford Place: UNC, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, April 1, 1966, p. 1
2. 1966 Stuart Matthews serves on the steering committee of the UNC chapter of Students for a Democratic Society The federal court's findings in Dickson v. Sitterson list Matthews as a member of the steering committee of Students for a Democratic Society, one of the recognized campus organizations whose officers brought the suit. The Daily Tar Heel adds that Matthews and Gary Waller invited Frank Wilkinson and Herbert Aptheker to speak under SDS sponsorship on January 3, 1966. People: Stuart Matthews, Gary Waller, Frank Wilkinson, Herbert Aptheker Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Justia: Dickson v. Sitterson, 280 F. Supp. 486 (M.D.N.C. 1968) · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, April 17, 1966, p. 1; The Daily Tar Heel, May 12, 1966, p. 1
3. 1966 (elected January 11) John E. Greenbacker Jr. leads the Dialectic and Philanthropic literary society The Daily Tar Heel reported that the Di-Phi Senate elected Greenbacker, who had served a year as its president pro tem, president of the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies on January 11, 1966; he was still called president-elect at the society's inaugural debate on March 15. The federal court's findings in Dickson v. Sitterson list Greenbacker as president of the Dialectic and Philanthropic Literary Society, one of the recognized student organizations whose officers brought the Speaker Ban suit. The Daily Tar Heel likewise named him as Di-Phi president among the ten student leaders who wrote to Chancellor Sitterson on March 1, 1966. People: John E. Greenbacker Jr., J. Carlyle Sitterson Place: Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Dialectic and Philanthropic SocietiesSearch the index · Justia: Dickson v. Sitterson, 280 F. Supp. 486 (M.D.N.C. 1968) · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, January 13, 1966, p. 1; The Daily Tar Heel, March 15, 1966, p. 1; The Daily Tar Heel, May 12, 1966, p. 1
4. February 28, 1966 The UNC Board of Trustees adopts visiting-speaker procedures under the amended Speaker Ban Acting under G.S. 116-199 and 116-200, the full Board of Trustees adopted procedures requiring recognized student groups to clear invitations to covered speakers with the chancellor. The students complied with them when they renewed the Wilkinson and Aptheker invitations, and the court later found the procedures as vague as the statute. People: William C. Friday, J. Carlyle Sitterson Place: RaleighCaselaw Access Project: Dickson v. Sitterson, 280 F. Supp. 486 (M.D.N.C. 1968), finding of fact 27 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, March 1, 1966, p. 1; The Daily Tar Heel, March 2, 1966, p. 1
5. March 31, 1966 Students and the two speakers file Dickson v. Sitterson against the Speaker Ban Minutes after Sitterson refused the students' request, Paul Dickson and eleven other student leaders, joined by Wilkinson and Aptheker as plaintiffs, sued Sitterson, President William C. Friday and the trustees in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. Attorney McNeill Smith took the case without fee. People: J. Carlyle Sitterson, Paul Dickson III, Herbert Aptheker, William C. Friday, George E. Nicholson III, Robert S. Powell Jr., James A. Medford, Eunice H. Milton, John E. Greenbacker Jr., Eric Van Loon, Gary Waller, Stuart Matthews, Frank Wilkinson Place: U.S. District Court, Greensboro · Also named: McNeill SmithUNC Carolina Story: One Final Effort · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, April 1, 1966, p. 1; The Daily Tar Heel, December 10, 1966, p. 1
6. May 13, 1966 University defendants answer the Speaker Ban suit and ask for dismissal Andrew Vanore of the Attorney General's staff filed the answer of Chancellor Sitterson, President Friday and the trustees in federal court at Greensboro, asking that the students' claims be separated from those of Herbert Aptheker and Frank Wilkinson and that the case be dismissed. The answer argued that the students had not been denied a right to hear the speakers, who had spoken just off campus, and that the speakers' claims were moot because they had been refused only for that semester. People: J. Carlyle Sitterson, William C. Friday Place: U.S. District Court, Greensboro · Also named: Andrew Vanore, Herbert Aptheker, Frank WilkinsonThe Daily Tar Heel, May 14, 1966, p. 1
7. December 8, 1966 The AAUP files a friend-of-the-court brief against the Speaker Ban The American Association of University Professors filed a 55-page brief as a friend of the court for the student and speaker plaintiffs in Dickson v. Sitterson, the federal suit against the Speaker Ban; the next day the Raleigh firm of Joyner and Howison filed a 118-page brief for the state. The Daily Tar Heel reported that a three-judge panel would hear oral arguments in January. Place: U.S. District Court, Greensboro (UNC case, Chapel Hill)The Daily Tar Heel, December 10, 1966, p. 1
8. February 21, 1967 A three-judge federal court hears arguments in Dickson v. Sitterson at Greensboro Judges Clement F. Haynsworth, Edwin M. Stanley and Algernon L. Butler heard 45 minutes a side in the U.S. Middle District courtroom. McNeill Smith called the law vague, ambiguous, unconstitutional and void on its face; W. T. Joyner Sr. answered for the University that the 1965 amendment had abolished the original ban. The court then held the case under advisement for a year. People: Paul Dickson III Place: Greensboro (U.S. District Court, Middle District of North Carolina) · Also named: McNeill Smith, William T. Joyner, Clement F. Haynsworth, Edwin M. Stanley, Algernon L. ButlerThe Daily Tar Heel, February 22, 1967, p. 1
9. February 19, 1968 A federal court struck down the Speaker Ban law in Dickson v. Sitterson A three-judge federal court in Greensboro ruled North Carolina's Speaker Ban law unconstitutional because it was too vague. The suit had been filed in March 1966 by UNC student leaders and the two barred speakers, Frank Wilkinson and Herbert Aptheker, and UNC's leaders hoped the ruling ended the long controversy. People: J. Carlyle Sitterson, Paul Dickson III, Frank Wilkinson, Herbert Aptheker Place: Chapel HillThe Daily Tar Heel, February 20, 1968, p. 1
10. February 22, 1968 Governor Moore recommends that the state and the trustees not appeal the Speaker Ban ruling Three days after the decision, Governor Dan K. Moore said the state should not appeal the federal court's finding that the law was unconstitutionally vague and recommended that the trustees not appeal either, voicing his hope that they and the administration would keep the campuses from being exploited as outlets of discord and strife. People: Dan K. Moore Place: RaleighThe Daily Tar Heel, February 23, 1968, p. 1
11. February 26, 1968 The UNC trustees adopt six temporary speaker rules in place of the voided regulations A week after the ruling the trustees approved, over Senator Tom White's plea to proceed calmly, six interim rules on the manner of a speaker's appearance (a senior faculty member presiding at the chancellor's request, public forums, balanced views, audience questions, sponsorship by recognized student groups), with the items the court had struck removed, pending further study by the executive committee on March 8. People: William C. Friday, J. Carlyle Sitterson Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Tom WhiteThe Daily Tar Heel, February 27, 1968, p. 1
12. March 8, 1968 The trustees' executive committee asks Governor Moore to name a subcommittee on a permanent speaker policy Meeting in Charlotte, the Board of Trustees' Executive Committee voted to ask the governor to appoint a subcommittee to study speaker regulations and recommend a permanent policy to the full board in May. Senator Tom White, who agreed with the state's decision not to appeal, said the board had resolved nothing; President Friday hoped the matter would be settled by May. People: William C. Friday, Dan K. Moore Place: Charlotte · Also named: Tom WhiteThe Daily Tar Heel, March 9, 1968, p. 1