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Charlotte Center of the University of North Carolina founded
Bonnie Cone founded the college to be a night school for veterans returning from active duty. -
Renamed Charlotte College
To better fit into educational scene around Charlotte as well as establish validity of the school. -
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Carver College operational as "separate but equal" institution
Founded to be the "Black half" of Charlotte College, Carver College was operated by the Charlotte City School Board from 1949-1958, then by the Charlotte Community College System from 1957-1963, after which it was renamed Mecklenburg College and merged with the Industrial Education Center in '63 to create Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC). -
Marian Anderson performs at commencement
Marian Anderson was a world renowned classical music singer. She was the first African-American person to perform with the Metropolitan Opera in New York. -
Charlotte college added to UNC System & renamed "UNC Charlotte"
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Stokely Carmichael speaks
Civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael was invited to campus by Students for ACTION (Active Committee for Truth, Individualism, Opportunity, Now), but Carmichael's ties to organizations like the Black Panther Party made the choice to bring him to campus as a speaker a controversial one. Rumors surfaced that white guests would be barred from attending the speech, but VCSA Bonnie Cone intervened, diffusing a tense situation. link text -
Black Studies Committee plans for the fall
Members of the Black Studies Committee met throughout the end of the spring semester in 1969 as well as through the whole summer to plan for the reveal of the Black Studies program. -
Creation of African American Studies Department
Black student and faculty activists, buoyed by the nationwide wave toward overdue societal change, prompted UNC Charlotte leadership to respond to their demands to formalize the study of Black people and Black liberation. -
Orangeburg Vigil
Students held a vigil for the victims on the eve of the first anniversary of what became known as the “Orangeburg Massacre.” -
UNC Charlotte refuses to acknowledge Black student deaths
A group of Black students wrote to the chancellor to request he follow up on his promise to replace the Black flag back on the flag pole and fly it at half mast to honor 3 Black students were were killed in Orangeburg, SC on 02/09/1969. -
Admin responds poorly to demands by Black students
Instead of receiving the demands with grace and benefit of the doubt, Bonnie Cone, then-Vice Chancellor to Chancellor Colvard, chose to annotate the 10 demands with how they would not work. -
Black Students respond to Bonnie Cone
The Black Student Caucus wrote to Bonnie Cone about her response to the 10 demands they had sent in days before. -
Written Documentation of Protest on 2/28/69
In response to administration dodging requests for a Black student union and being purposefully secretive and abstruse, Black students gathered "around the flag pole" and were harassed by police. -
A citizen responds to March 3 protest
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Colvard responds to Ben Chavis
Colvard wrote a letter to Ben Chavis, prominent social activist and student at UNC Charlotte, discussing and essentially rejecting the 10 demands submitted by the Black Student Caucus. -
Planning Committee for Black Studies Program formed
Seemingly in response to increasing pressure from Black students and embarrassment at his handling of previous encounters, Chancellor Colvard sends out a memorandum to 17 faculty members and students to request they serve "as members of a Black Student Committee in order to study and make recommendations for a program of Black Studies at UNC-Charlotte." -
West Charlotte Senior High (Lions)
Fall of 1970 Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools bus students in efforts to desegregate Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools according to Judge McMillan's decision in Swann v Mecklenburg. GRUNDY, P. (2017). Color and Character: West Charlotte High and the American Struggle over Educational Equality. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. Retrieved March 1, 2021, from Link text -
John Belk 1966-1977 Mayor and benefactor of Charlotte
Belk's influence on growth, infrastructure and UNC Charlotte from 2 year educational institute to 4 year institute. Belk was also was very instrumental in the expansion of Charlotte’s airport as an international hub, enabling the city to become a major financial, transportation and distribution centerDouglas international and John Belk Freeway.
Expansion video Link text -
Julius Chambers
Swann v Mecklenburg Board of Education 1964- 1975
Julius Chambers represents the Swann family and is successful which led to desegregation of Charlotte Mecklenburg schools by busing. Resentment is evidenced by the threat letters and multiple bombings of Chamber's office, home and car. Additionally the resentment is seen throughout the country as a threat to security of the status quo -
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UNCC Black Studies Program and Instructor Bertha Maxwell- Roddey
Bertha Maxwell Roddey becomes UNCC's Black Studies Program’s founding director in 1971.
Scholarship, Research, Activism: A brief history of UNC Charlotte's Africana Studies Department: Inside UNC Charlotte: UNC Charlotte. Inside UNC Charlotte. (2021, February 22).
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Bertha Maxwell hired
Maxwell (now Maxwell-Roddey) became UNC Charlotte's first Black administrator and a pioneering voice for the Black Studies Program after serving as one of the first Black principals to head a white elementary school in Charlotte. -
Mary T. Harper hired
Harper joined UNC Charlotte as the first Black full-time faculty member in UNC Charlotte’s English Department in 1971, after teaching at Newbold High School in Lincolnton, North Carolina, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Barber-Scotia College and Johnson C. Smith University. She passed away on Oct. 1, 2020.
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Swann vs School Board: Bussing Integration
Landmark court case where US Supreme Court unanimously upheld busing programs that sped up racial integration for Charlotte and the rest of the country. CMS busing model served as the blueprint for integration for the rest of the country. https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-desegregation-and-resegregation-of-charlottes-schools#main-content -
1974 Afro-American Cultural Center in Charlotte( Harvey Gantt Center)
Maxwell and English professor Mary Harper co-found the Afro-American Cultural Center in Charlotte to offset some of the negative effects of desegregation and the destruction of Black neighborhoods due to urban renewal. Roberson, L. (2020, October 9). University remembers lasting legacy of Mary Harper: INSIDE Unc Charlotte: UNC Charlotte.
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Busing Integration
In 11/1974 Students from Boston Schools visit West Charlotte to meet with students in efforts of understanding the impacts of integration.
GRUNDY, P. (2017). BUSING. In Color and Character: West Charlotte High and the American Struggle over Educational Equality (p.80).
White students and parents riot as black students are bused into Mars, Boston school.Link text -
Mostly families of color displaced by Interstate Highway I-277
Urban redevelopment results in an overwhelming loss of black culture i.e, schools, churches, and neighborhoods of African Americans in Charlotte. African American instructors are impacted by closure of schools.
GRUNDY, P. (2017). BUSING. In Color and Character: West Charlotte High and the American Struggle over Educational Equality (pp. 59-82). Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. Retrieved March 1, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5149/9781469634012_grundy.7 -
1980 Wilmington 10 decission overturned by US Court of Appeals
February 6, 1971, Mike’s Grocery, in Wilmington, was firebombed (increasing racial tension and violence over the desegregation of the city’s high schools)
-prosecutor secured guilty verdicts by using perjured testimony and illegally excluding blacks from the jury. The Wilmington 10 and Firebombing of Mike's Grocery. NC DNCR. (2016, February 6). https://www.ncdcr.gov/blog/2015/02/06/the-wilmington-10-and-firebombing-of-mikes-grocery. -
Establishment of district representation on City Council in 1977 for adequate representation of the Westside on City Council
https://www.charlottemagazine.com/district-representation-enters-local-politics/
Sam Smith insisted that Charlotte's Westside was the "stepchild"
A transformation of Charlotte politics occurred on April 19, 1977. That's when the voters approved by the narrowest of margins district representation on the Charlotte City Council.
https://www.cmstory.org/exhibits/african-american-album-volume-2/1977-charlottes-new-district-system
October 11, 1976, vetoed by John Belk -
Kelly Alexander Honored by NAACP.
Alexander revived the Chalotte Section NAACP as a Civil Rights Activst in Charlotte, leading by example and for African Americans until his death.
https://www.cmstory.org/exhibits/african-american-album-volume-2/kelly-alexander-sr-honored-naacp -
Job Training Partnership Act of 1982
JTPA Programs increase work readiness and employment experience of impoverished in Charlotte.
Mellnik, T. (1986, January 9). CHARLOTTE OFFICIALS BOOST ADVERTISING ON JOBS PROGRAM FOR
DISADVANTAGED. Charlotte Observer, The (NC), p. 9B. Available from NewsBank: America's News – Historical
and Current: https://infoweb-newsbank-com.proxy141.nclive.org/apps/news/document-view?
p=AMNEWS&docref=news/0EB6BFF39AF61ED3. https://goldmine.uncc.edu/index/render/object/pid/mss:69822/parentPID -
Opening-afro-american-cultural-center
Little Rock AME Zion Church 1912-1981
Historical Building sold by Little Rock AME Zion Church ( 2nd Ward/ Brooklyn) during redevelopment after sale of deed to the city during urban development phase.
https://inside.uncc.edu/news-features/2020-10-06/university-remembers-lasting-legacy-mary-harper
Our History. Little Rock A.M.E. Zion Church.(2020). https://littlerockamezion.org/our-history.
https://www.cmstory.org/exhibits/african-american-album-volume-2/1986-opening-afro-american-cultural-center -
The Deadliest Year in Charlotte Lights for Justice
Officers Burnette and Nobles known for Community Policing make a difference for West Charlotte community and Boulevard Homes.
https://www.charlottemagazine.com/1993-charlottes-deadliest-year/
Dee Sumpter founds Mother of Murdered Offspring (Henry Wallace)
https://www.cmstory.org/exhibits/african-american-album-volume-2/1993-dee-sumpter-founds-mothers-murdered-offspring
https://www.cmstory.org/exhibits/african-american-album-volume-2/1993-light-justice-candlelight-vigil -
The Million Man March
400,000 - 1.1 million African American men, fathers, and attendees gathered at the nation's capital in an effort to bring awareness of experiences of African American communities.
https://www.cmstory.org/exhibits/african-american-album-volume-2/1995-million-man-march -
Diversity is the Future of UNCC
Craig Fulton Director of Admissions
Incusion, community, growth and diversity
https://goldmine.uncc.edu/index/render/object/pid/ua:1422/parentPID/ua:publrel Faculty Demographics
-numbers and diversty of faculty speak diferrently on divesity and shown a need for growth and representation of students that can reflected by the faculty.
Faculty 1996:
Asian F-2, M- 11, AA F-5, M-3, Hispanic F,1 ,M-1,
White F-39, M-138 total faculty of 200 -
1995/1996 Report: #of Black Men/Women Faculty
Female Lecturers: 4
Male Lecturers: 1 Female Asst. Profs.: 7
Male Asst. Profs.: 4 Female Assoc. Profes.: 5
Male Assoc. Profes.: 3 Female Professors: 1
Male Professors: 2 Total Black Female Faculty: 17
Total Black Male Faculty: 10
Total White Faculty:554 -
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Cappacchione vs. CMS Schools Court Case
White father sued CMS schools because he believed his daughter was denied from a magnet school because of her race. Judge Robert Potter, a well-known anti-bussing advocate in the 60s, ruled in favor of Cappacchione and efforts for integration through bussing backslid
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-desegregation-and-resegregation-of-charlottes-schools#main-content -
UNCC Staking its claim in the UNC School System
"In August 2000 the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina System reclassified it a doctoral/research university.
The modern University of North Carolina at Charlotte is comprised of seven colleges. It draws students from across North Carolina and the nation and around the world. In the early 2000s it had an enrollment of more than 18,000 students. " -
Product of Gentrification: Price Spike from 2000-2010
Transformation of neighborhoods west of Third Ward. The area is near Bryant Park that was primarily inhabited by Black families until they were displaced " as median home values nearly doubled in that same time span, jumping from $90,984 in 2000 to $171,900 in 2010." https://patch.com/north-carolina/charlotte/gentrification-charlotte-see-areas-most-affected -
CMS Schools desegregation efforts almost fully reversed
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UNC Charlotte Magazine Q3, 2008
Spike in campus construction to sustain growing population. Some examples of campus expansion plans include a $65 Million exterior work on the Popp Martin Student Union as well as a $35 Million Bioinformatics building.
https://issuu.com/unc_charlotte/docs/uncc_3q08?fr=sODZiYTI1MTE4Nw -
UNC Charlotte Creates Master Plan
As the growth of enrollment in students and the projected growth of the city of Charlotte increases, UNC Charlotte set out to create a master plan for growth trajectory. "The 2010 Master Plan presents a cohesive, people-oriented campus committed to sustainability, efficiency, and social interaction. It also presents a stronger set of building and infrastructure connections to our surrounding neighbors." -
UNC Charlotte Urban Institute: Disparity in Incarceration Rate
Black men in Charlotte are 9.6 times more likely to be incarcerated than white males in the city. Black male incarceration rate: 4.8%
White male incarceration rate: .5% -
2012 Enrolled Students Racial Breakdown
White Students: 15,943
Black Students: 4,309 -
UNC Charlotte Urban Institute: Racial Wealth Gap
Black and Latinx households are twice are more than twice as likely to be asset poor ie. lack of sufficient savings or assets that can be utilized to purchase basic needs. Black Households: 44%
Latinx Households: 48%
White Households: 18% -
Sigma Kappa Red Face
In 2014 the members of Sigma Kappa performed a “Pocahontas dance” in which sorority members wore stereotypically Native American costumes and were painted with "tribal" markings. The then Vice-Chancellor of Student Affairs, Arthur Jackson, issued a statement. In it, the public was assured that the members of Sigma Kappa who participated “meant no offense” and that the university viewed this incident as a “teachable moment.” The sorority never apologized and remain in good standing with UNCC. -
Students "Die in" at the Popp Martin Student Union
UNC-Charlotte students staged a peaceful lie in protest over the Charlotte police officer shooting.
https://www.wxii12.com/article/unc-charlotte-students-hold-lie-in-protest/3618777 -
City of Charlotte's Non-discrimination ordinance
The city of Charlotte created a non-discrimination ordinance to counter the HB2 law that was passed in North Carolina.
https://charlottenc.gov/NonDiscrimination/Pages/default.aspx -
Killing of Keith Lamont Scott in Charlotte
Keith Lamont Scott was shot and killed by an officer in Charlotte. The video of the shooting created a peaceful and violent protest throughout the Charlotte community. Racial tensions began to increase between the charlotte community and police. -
2017 Enrolled Student Racial Diversity Breakdown
White Students: 16,380
Black Students: 4,630
Hispanic/Latinx: 2,584 -
UNC Charlottes response to the Keith Lamont Scott shooting
The shooting of Keith Lamont Scott was a tragedy that occurred in Charlotte in 2016. The outrage over the shooting went nationwide. UNC Charlotte students and faculty speak about the shooting a year later and the impact that it has had. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Vj2OhNv1n2zURkkWXnFu_xtUPLng17bF/view?usp=drive_web -
UNC Charlotte Urban Institute: Educational Debt Disparity
Nonwhite students accumulate more debt than white students in Mecklenburg county as well as in Student Loan debt collections twice the rate as white students. Student Loan Debt of Nonwhite: 21%
Student Loan Debt of White: 17% Student Loan Debt in Collections of Nonwhite:16%
Student Loan Debt in Collections of White: 8% -
Reported Jump in "Ethnic Student Enrollment"
According to UNCC's 2019 progress report, "..... Since
our summary report in 2013, the percentages of Asian, Hispanic, Latino, multiracial and international students have increased, while the percentage of students identifying as White (55.7%) has declined. Black/African American enrollment (16.2%) is unchanged" -
City of Charlotte Race Distribution circa 2019
Charlotte Racial Breakdown according to the most recent U.S Census White: 48.8%
Black: 35.2%
Hispanic/Latinx: 14.3% -
2019/2020 Report of # Black Men/Women Faculty
Female Lecturers: 10
Male Lecturers: 4 Female Asst. Profes.: 22
Male Asst. Profes.: 8 Female Assoc. Profes.: 19
Male Assoc. Profes.: 9 Female Professors: 6
Male Professors: 9 Total Black Female Faculty: 57
Total Black Male Faculty: 30
Total White Faculty: 777 -
Updating of Charlotte's Non-discrimination ordinance
The city of Charlotte updated the Non-discrimination ordinance to become more inclusive. The update pushes to create a more non-discriminatory city. https://charlottenc.gov/newsroom/cityhighlights/Pages/Nondiscrimination-Ordinance.aspx -
Native American Student Association Re-Established
Previously there was a Native American Student Organization. However, as members graduated and COVID-19 hit, the group no longer met. Page Freeman took the initiative to revamp the organization under the name NASA. She held an interest meeting over zoom. Within the next few months, an Executive team was elected and the group began meeting regularly. The group continues to grow while creating a safe space for Native people to find community while on campus. -
Land Acknowledgment
As a part of the University's Indigenous Peoples Day celebration, a land and people acknowledgment plaque was unveiled outside of Popp Martin Student Union. Page Freeman, Native American Student Association President, spoke at the ceremony and was one of three Native people at the event. The Native people of our campus feel that it was disrespectful to not have any representatives of the tribes acknowledged present for the event. Many question if the plaque was done for show.
