Student legislation brings echoes of the past

Contributed by Samantha Rich
[caption id="attachment_992" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Protesters gathered outside of the General Assembly Legislative Building on Halifax Mall on Tuesday, September 13, 2011, © 2011 NCSU Student Media"] [/caption]
Recent vandalism to the N.C. State GLBT Center in Harrelson Hall has prompted the university community to create a dialogue on hate crimes and campus diversity. Amidst discussion of support of the GLBT community, N.C. State Student Government passed a bill expressing disapproval of N.C.’s amendment 1, which, if passed in May, will declare gay marriage illegal in North Carolina.

This is not the first time students have passed legislation related to marriage in North Carolina. On November 7, 1957 the North Carolina State Student Legislative Assembly met in Raleigh to conduct a mock assembly. Approximately 250 students from colleges across North Carolina, including N.C. State College Student Body President Jim Hunt , and then Vice President Eddie Knox , attended the meetings at the State Capitol. During the course of the three-day assembly, legislators passed a resolution that called for all states to rescind laws against interracial marriage.

Politicians throughout North Carolina expressed displeasure with the student legislators, specifically the bill related to interracial marriage. Representative Harold Cooley stated, “You have shocked the sensibilities of our people. I regret very much the actions taken by this assembly. NC Governor Luther Hodges declared the assembly displayed “immaturity” in its actions and called for future review of student legislative business prior to its presentation to the press. Additionally, on November 13, 1957, W.S. Hamilton, a North Carolina superintendent, wrote a letter to UNC Consolidated University President William Friday stating: “I am in agreement with Representative Harold D. Cooley and numerous newspaper editors throughout North Carolina that the state student legislature should adopt a more constructive agenda or adjourn permanently….It is obvious that the state student legislature is in need of much closer faculty supervision.”

While the student legislators received little support from the political community, N.C. State Chancellor Carey Bostian openly supported the actions of the students. In a letter to William Friday dated November 12, 1957, Bostian declared, “I urge that no attempts be made to restrict the freedom of students to assemble and discuss any items which they consider to be pertinent to our current problems…Delegates from State College go uninstructed and should be free to debate any topics they choose.”

The shared experiences of the 2011 Student Government and the 1957 North Carolina Student Legislative Assembly demonstrates that N.C. State students have a history of promoting diversity within North Carolina legislation. Current student leaders should take comfort knowing many students and alumni before them have tread the same difficult path.

To learn more about the North Carolina Student Legislative Assembly or to view the documents described above, please visit Special Collections .

Citations:Technician (7 November 1957, 11 November 1957, 14 November 1957); W.S. Hamilton to William Friday (13 November 1957), North Carolina State University, Office of the Chancellor, Carey Hoyt Bostian Records, UA 002.001.003 , Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC; Carey Bostian to William Friday (12 November 1957), North Carolina State University, Office of the Chancellor, Carey Hoyt Bostian Records, UA 002.001.003 , Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC