Atkins v. Scott

597 F.2d 872, 1979 U.S. App. LEXIS 14949
Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit·Decided May 3, 1979·No. No. 77-2304·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinions

WIDENER, Circuit Judge:

This is an appeal by J. Alston Atkins, pro se plaintiff-appellant, and Luther James Manning and North Carolina Alumni and Friends Coalition, et al, intervening plaintiffs-appellants (appellants), from a decision of the district court refusing to issue a preliminary injunction pursuant to FRCP 65(a). We have jurisdiction to entertain such appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1), and affirm the district court’s refusal to issue a preliminary injunction. Appellants also appeal the district court’s determination that Chapter 922 of the 1975 Session Laws of North Carolina is not unconstitutional on its face. For reasons to be stated infra, we are without jurisdiction to review that determination.

The underlying action in this case alleges that North Carolina operates and supports, financially and otherwise, a racially dual system of higher education. The proposed addition of a School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM) is only one aspect of the case, but is the one immediately at hand.1

After it became known that a veterinary school was in the offing, appellants filed a motion for a preliminary injunction seeking •to enjoin the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina and any persons, agency, or other entity acting in concert with or on behalf of the Board of Governors from taking any action implementing or tending to implement the decision of the Board of Governors made on or about December 18, 1974 to establish a School of Veterinary Medicine on the campus of North Carolina State University at Raleigh (NCSU). In their motion for a preliminary injunction, appellants also requested the district court to enjoin the Board of Governors and any persons, agency, or other entity acting in concert with or on behalf of the Board of Governors from basing any decision as to where new schools or new programs are to be located upon comparative evaluations of physical and academic facilities of institutions within the University of North Carolina, except upon an affirmative showing that such a decision is in furtherance of the Board of Governors’ duties and obligations under the United States Constitution. Both sides in the case seem to construe the last clause mentioned as meaning that any new program must be located so as to lessen any existing racial statistical imbalance.

[874] The district court held a hearing on the motion for a preliminary injunction. On the basis of oral testimony adduced at the hearing, the contentions of the parties as disclosed by the pleadings and briefs filed with the court, the stipulations of fact en-. tered into by the parties, and the answers of appellees to interrogatories, the district court made, among others, the following factual determinations which are not clearly erroneous. The University of North Carolina is composed of sixteen constituent institutions of higher education supported by the State of North Carolina. The Board of Governors exercises controlling supervision and direction over the sixteen constituent institutions that comprise the University of North Carolina. Prior to 1954, the public institutions of higher education maintained as of that date by the State of North Carolina were maintained on a racially exclusive basis, i. e., where members of only one race were admitted and enrolled. During the period from 1955 through 1965, maintenance of the constituent institutions of the University of North Carolina on a racially exclusive basis was gradually eliminated. The State of North Carolina has been gradually eliminating vestiges of the racially dual system of higher education that existed prior to 1954.2 A consideration of statistical information concerning the system of higher education available for the years 1969-1976 reflects a slow but steady increase in student desegregation in the system. The general concern over the efforts of the State of North Carolina to disestablish a racially dual system of higher education is reflected in the history of the decision-making process followed in determining where to locate a School of Veterinary Medicine in North Carolina.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Atkins v. Scott, 597 F.2d 872, 1979 U.S. App. LEXIS 14949 (4th Cir. 1979).

597 F.2d 872 (Atkins v. Scott) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related