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SOURCE: The Daily Tar Heel
12.05.06
N.C. group rallies for cause
ASG leaders see limited turnout
By: Eric Johnson, Senior Writer
A delegation of more than 200 N.C. college students gathered in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday morning in a show of support for race-based student assignment in public schools.
They joined hundreds of protestors as the high court heard arguments likely to have a far-reaching impact on efforts to integrate school districts across the country.
"What the cases really are about are what efforts local school systems may voluntarily take to promote racially diverse schools," said Ashley Osment, an attorney for the UNC Center for Civil Rights who co-authored an amicus brief in the case.
"This is the first time the court has ever considered how the equal protection clause applies to school districts that are taking voluntary steps to keep their schools integrated."
The case has struck a chord with the UNC system's historically black colleges, with Fayetteville State, Elizabeth City State and Winston-Salem State universities all represented at Monday's rally. East Carolina University completed the rest of North Carolina's delegation.
"It was very emotional," said Quentin DeBerry, student body president at WSSU. "It was just wonderful to see the different races, creeds and ethnic backgrounds come together."
But the diversity of the overall event served to underscore the relative lack of diversity within the N.C. delegation. Despite calls by the UNC-system Association of Student Governments for system-wide participation, few campuses took an active role.
"It's disappointing that it wasn't seen as important to others," said Keisha Robinson, student body president at Fayetteville State. "You can put something out there for someone, but it's up to them to take it."
At an ASG meeting last month, when Robinson first suggested sending students from across the state, the idea received tentative backing from almost all student body presidents. In a series of conference calls during the past two weeks, most campuses continued to pledge support.
But with final exams approaching and logistical challenges mounting, the ASG had to scale back plans to send whole bus loads of students from each region of the state.
"We talked to the student body presidents, and they said that they would be sending out e-mails to various campus organizations to see if there was interest," said Stephen Moore, ASG vice president for government relations. "I know at some campuses they got no response."
The campuses that dispatched the largest contingents Monday organized their efforts largely outside the context of the ASG, chartering their own buses and raising their own funding.
Even without statewide participation, DeBerry said it was heartening to see an ad-hoc coalition of campuses come together.
"We represent everybody in the state of North Carolina."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
