"It didn't have the same type of staff. Same type of library was not present. You did not have equal facilities. One was a segregated all-Black school. One was an all-White school," said Floyd McKissick Jr, who is the son of the lead plaintiff Floyd McKissick Sr.
The case challenged the "separate but equal" doctrine, arguing that at the time, North Carolina Central University's School of Law did not provide the same quality of education as UNC-Chapel Hill's School of Law.
Floyd McKissick Sr., the lead plaintiff in the case, was represented by Thurgood Marshall, who would later become the first African American justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
"What we take for granted today was not always this way," said Floyd McKissick Jr. "It took people like my father to desegregate the public university system."
The court's decision required UNC-Chapel Hill to admit its first African American students, and in June 1951, Harvey Beech, James Lassiter, J. Kenneth Lee, Floyd McKissick Sr., and James Robert Walker enrolled as law students. Their arrival was met with resistance, and they faced a hostile environment, including racial slurs.
Now, 75 years later, their legacy continues to influence students. Adam Sherif, a senior, president of the Black Student Movement, and a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., says he is seeing the ongoing effects of affirmative action and DEI policies.
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"Thinking about the legacy of the first Black students who integrated the school," he said. "How do we make sure progress doesn't go too far back? We've made a lot of steps forward."
He and his fraternity brothers were giving high school students visiting from Atlanta a college campus tour. Sherif emphasized the importance of connecting with this history.
"To expose students to campus and be part of this history, hopefully it inspires them to apply and continue the legacy of Black students on this campus," said mentor Travis Amsterdam.
The McKissick case ultimately led to the desegregation of the entire UNC system, laying the groundwork for broader educational equality nationwide.