Immediate Appeal Filed in Clemson College Case

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Color photo of North Carolina senatorial candidate Harvey Gantt speaking to supporters on election night in 1990, standing at a podium with his arm raised.

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Press Releases, Loose Pages. Immediate Appeal Filed in Clemson College Case, 1962. b9720212-bd92-ee11-be37-6045bddb811f. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/0be30ef8-a40d-40ca-8681-3b4e99df71b7/immediate-appeal-filed-in-clemson-college-case. Accessed November 01, 2025.

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    - PRESS RELEASE 

NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND 

DR. ALLAN KNIGHT CHALMERS JACK GREENBERG CONSTANCE BAKER MOTLEY 
President Director-Counsel Associate Counsel 

=e 

JATE APPEAL FILED IN 
SLEMSON COLLEGE CASE 

December 27, 1962 

NEW YORK -- NAACP Legal Defense Fund attorneys filed an immediate 

appeal this week from a decision by a South Carolina judge denying 

Harvey Gantt's suit to transfer from Iowa State to Clemson College, 

Mrs. Constance Baker Motley, chief attorney for Gantt, said 

that the appeal asks the U. S, Court of Appeals for the Fourth 

Circuit to hear the case as soon as possible. 

She hopes to win the 19 year old Negro student's entrance to 

the all-white state school by February, when the second semester 

begins. 

Judge C, C. Wyche of the Western District of South Carolina 

ruled on December 21st that Gantt had not fully complied with 

Clemson's entrance requirements, therefore, the College was justi- 

fied in not admitting him, 

Judge Wyche held that it was up to Gantt to prove he was denied 

admission for racial reasons, and he "has not been denied admission 

on the basis of his race." 

The decision was based largely on a letter from the Dean of the 

School of Architecture to Gantt at the time the suit was filed last 

July. The letter requested an interview with Gantt to evaluate him 

as a student and his credits, and some samples of his work at Iowa 

State. When the suit was filed the interview was never held. 

Judge Wyche held that the college has a legitimate right to evaluzt 

Gantt's credits before accepting him, especially since he is a trams 

fer applicant. 

"Tf the plaintiff is seriously interested in cecuring a gcod 

education in the field of architecture, he should have been glad to 

secure and consider the wise counsel of the Dean of Arshitesture c* 

a great school like Clemson College," he commented. 

Gantt has attempted to transfer to Clemson since January 1961. 

He was then attending Iowa State on a South Carolina out-of-state 



15 

grant. Such financial assistance is provided Negro students who 

wish to pursue a course of study not offered in the state Negro 

college. 

Since 1961, Gantt has written ten letters to the Registrar and 

other Clemson officials in an attempt to complete his application. 

At the trial held in November 1962, Legal Defense Fund attorneys 

argued that this delay in considering Gantt's application was evi- 

dence that his papers were handled differently from those of white 

students. Fund attorneys also argued that Clemson, in not admit- 

ting Gantt, was simply following a long-standing "white only" admis- 

sion policy. 

NAACP Legal Defense Fund attorneys for Gantt are Matthew J. 

Perry and Lincoln C. Jenkins, Jr., of Columbia, S. C., Donald J. 

Sampson and Willie T, Smith of Greenville, S. C., and Mrs, Constance 

Baker Motley and Jack Greenberg of New York City. 

2O==

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Immediate Appeal Filed in Clemson College Case

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