University of Georgia desegregation riot facts for kids
The University of Georgia desegregation riot was an incident of mob violence by proponents of racial segregation on January 11, 1961. The riot was caused by segregationist's protest over the desegregation of the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens, Georgia following the enrollment of Hamilton E. Holmes and Charlayne Hunter, two African American students. The two had been admitted to the school several days earlier following a lengthy application process that led to a court order mandating that the university accept them. On January 11, several days after the two had registered, a group of approximately 1,000 people (including members of the Ku Klux Klan) conducted a riot outside of Hunter's dormitory. In the aftermath, Holmes and Hunter were suspended by the university's dean, though this suspension was later overturned by a court order. Several rioters were arrested, with several students placed on disciplinary probation, but no one was charged with inciting the riot. In an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, it was revealed that some of the riot organizers were in contact with elected state officials who approved of the riot and assured them of immunity for conducting the riot.
Following the riot, Holmes and Hunter continued their education at UGA, graduating several years later and holding careers in their fields. The integration at UGA was followed by further integration at universities throughout the state in the following years.
Aftermath
Immediately following the riot, the dean of students suspended Holmes and Hunter "in the interest of your personal safety and for the safety and welfare of more than 7,000 other students at the University of Georgia". The following evening, faculty members had assembled at the university's chapel to argue in favor of the two's reinstatement, with a petition for such eventually gaining over 400 faculty signatures. On January 13, Bootle ordered that Holmes and Hunter be reinstated, and they began attending classes the following school day. Following their suspension, the university additionally suspended four students who had organized the riot and placed an additional 18 students on disciplinary probation. Four KKK members, as well as two students, were also arrested for their involvement.
The reenrollment of Holmes and Hunter also spelt the end for a piece of Georgia legislation that forbade state funding to integrated universities, as the Georgia General Assembly later voted to repeal that statue. Holmes and Hunter, understandably, later expressed unpleasantness with their experiences at UGA, though neither were physically threatened again during their time at the university, and both later graduated and had careers in their fields. Integration at UGA was followed by integration at several more universities in the state in the following years, including the Georgia Institute of Technology (1961), Emory University, Mercer University (both 1963), and Berry College (1964). In 2001, UGA renamed their main academic building the Holmes–Hunter Building in honor of the two.
State officials support of riot
While university officials tried to downplay the role that students had had in planning the riot, emphasizing the role that outsiders played and attributing the riot to frustration at the result of that night's basketball game, historian Robert A. Pratt claims that there is little evidence for this and claims that there is substantial evidence that law students, including members of the Demosthenian Literary Society, had organized the riot. During an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, one riot leader claimed that he was in daily communications with state officials in the leadup to the riot. Additionally, The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution newspapers claimed that eyewitnesses reported that organizers had boasted about their connections with state officials and their assurances that state troopers wouldn't interfere in the riot. Roy V. Harris (a kingmaker in Georgia politics) seemed to acknowledge these claims when, speaking to the press, he said "it was people holding high official positions in the Capitol" who had encouraged the rioters. Ultimately, no riot organizer was charged with intent to incite a riot, nor has any state official claimed collaboration with the rioters.
