Jackson Advocate

University Of N. C. Suits Withdrawn

DURHAM, N. C., Sept. 4 - (INS)--The ranks of eight Negro students battling for entry into the university of North Carolina Law school in a Durham Federal-court trial were sliced in half during Tuesday's proceedings.

The original plaintiff, Harold Epps, withdrew his complaint explaining that since filing the suit he has graduated from the North Carolina college Law School and has been admitted to the state bar.

Four other students joined Epps in the withdrawal while a new plaintiff, J. Kenneth Lee, was allowed to enter the case.

Besides Lee, other students now seeking entry into the university in the trial are Sol Revis, James Lassiter and Floyd B. McKissick.

The youths are attempting to prove that the legal training facilities offered by the university are superior to those of the North Carolina College Law School.

Defendants in the case are the state and the university.

During the second-round of proceedings, university of Chicago Law Professor Malcolm P. Sharp testified that the "prestige" and opportunity of contact offered by the university makes it superior to the Negro college.

Later Sharp, in a debate with defense attorney William B. Um-stead, a former U. S. Senator from North Carolina, said he favored the "eradication of all segregation" in colleges.

Meanwhile, defense Witness George G. Harvey, Oklahoma attorney employed by the American Bar Association to inspect Law Schools throughout the country stated that he considers the two schools "equal".