Hamilton Holmes & Charlayne Hunter vs Walter Danner

Fall semester of 1960, a member of Committee of Education reads a statement about applications of Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter. At the time, the institution was still considered a segregated university, and thus their application was met with hate from the general population. The staff states that the applications have been reviewed; however, they were determined to be incomplete. The applications were denied, and the staff recommended Holmes and Hunter to renew their applications. Holmes and Hunter’s first application was recorded to be in summer of 1959, and the staff used various delay and rejection tactics in order to keep the institution segregated. Some of these tactics include excuses such as "lack of space for the students" or "incomplete application or missing documents". These delay tactics kept the two students from attending the instituiton until they decided to sue the school. The court session began on January 6th, 1961, with the defendant being Walter N. Danner.

Preliminary statement by Plaintiffs

University of Georgia has been charged for "limiting admission of negro persons", violated the 14th Amendment. Said Amendment declares that segregated educational institutions are forbidden.

The transcript is a written version of the events that occurred on January 6, 1961, between the Plaintiffs Hamilton E. Holmes and Charlayne A. Hunter against Walter N. Danner, the University of Georgia Director of Admissions and Registrar. The transcript reviews that the admissions of the plaintiffs have been delayed multiple times for reasons including but not limited to "not submitting an official transcript" (despite the plaintiff stating that the transcript has been submitted). Other such cases were shown for the plaintiffs, while other applicants (assumed to be white applicants) have been given more lenient pardons to mistakes in applications.

The court Judge W. A. Bootle ordered for admission of the plaintiffs, thus the segregation of UGA was broken.

His decision posed problems to the institution, due to a state legislation that was passed a couple years prior. The legislation stated that "white institutions" that admitted "non-white" applicants would no longer receive financial support from the state. When the two students were admitted, the university fell into chaos, spawning rumors of the possibility of UGA closing.

Walter Danner papers, UA97-116, University Archives, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, The University of Georgia Libraries.

wsbn43771, WSB-TV newsfilm clip of a member of the Committee on Education of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia reading from a prepared statement regarding applications of African American students Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes to the University of Georgia, Atlanta, Georgia, 1960 October 21, WSB-TV newsfilm collection, reel 0989, 54:07/54:50, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia