Four black students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College began a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter. Although they were refused service, they were allowed to stay at the counter. The event triggered many similar nonviolent protests throughout the South. Six months later the original four protesters were served lunch at the same Woolworth's counter. Student sit-ins became an effective strategy throughout the Deep South in integrating parks, swimming pools, theaters, libraries, and other public facilities.

The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was founded at Shaw University, Raleigh, North Carolina. SNCC provided young blacks a place in the civil rights movement. As it matured the group became a more radical organization, especially under the leadership of Stokely Carmichael (1966–1967).

University of Miami undergraduate students initiated the “newly-formed Florida Inter-Institutional Student Government Association” which included “negro and white Florida college students” to discuss common student government problems and promote better relations among the colleges.

A fraternity chose a Nazi theme for their Homecoming parade entry.  The Jeep featured a swastika on the door along with a sign that read "Chapter Officers".  The chapter officers in the jeep were dressed in Nazi uniforms and clutching fake machine-guns.  Bob Wortman, the Homecoming Parade Chairman, said that the fraternity was entered in the parade but their theme has not been approved.  The fraternity arrived late, thus allowing their theme to slip through unapproved.  The Nazi theme raised regrets and comments of "poor taste" from UM students, faculty and administration.  The fraternity was quoted as saying that the theme was intended to be "humorous".

Three black undergraduates were registered at UT—eighteen-year-old Theotis Robinson, Jr. and Charles Edgar Blair; and a forty-one-year-old housewife, Mrs. Willie Mae Gillespie. The registration went smoothly and without incident.

In the summer of 1959, Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes were denied admission to the Athens campus of the University of Georgia (UGA). They took their case to the courts, and on January 6, 1961, a Federal judge ordered them admitted. Georgia's appeal to the Supreme Court was quickly denied several days later.  On-campus harassment by white students ensued. After a sports event Hunter’s dormitory was mobbed and police had to use tear gas to disperse rioters. UGA suspends Holmes and Hunter "for their own safety and the safety of other students."  More than 400 UGA faculty (a majority) signed a resolution condemning the violence and the suspension, and called for the return of the two Black students.  Within days a new court order was handed down and they were able to return to class. Hunter and Holmes are joined by black graduate student Mary Frances Early, who had transfered from the University of Michigan. In 1962 Early becomes the first black to receive a degree from UGA. Hamilton Holmes became the first black admitted to Emory University School of Medicine and he ends his career as medical director of Atlanta's Grady Memorial Hospital and associate dean at Emory. Charlayne Hunter graduated from UGA in 1963 and later becomes prominent journalist,  working for PBS, NPR and the Cable News Network (CNN) Johannesburg bureau chief.

The Undergraduate Student Government would organize a campus wide referendum on the University’s admission restrictions. The results of this vote would help to inform the Board of Trustees about the student body’s opinion regarding desegregation.

The UM Wesley Foundation releases statement on racial discrimination: “Our church has taught, and we believe, that in Jesus Christ all men are brothers.  The Church, as the body of Christ, knows no racial, economic, or social discriminations, for all are one in him. We support fully the statement by the Methodist Council of Bishops which declared in 1952 and in 1956, and now has re-affirmed: “To discriminate against a person solely on the basis of his race is both unfair and un-christian…” 

The University of Miami Board of Trustees voted to admit students regardless of race or color beginning in the summer of 1961.

The Miami Hurricane reported that 19 Negros filled out applications for UM summer and fall sessions on February 09, 1961.  

Over the spring and summer, student volunteers begin taking bus trips through the South to test out new laws that prohibited segregation in interstate travel facilities, which included bus and railway stations. Several groups of "freedom riders," as they were called, were attacked by angry mobs along the way. The program, sponsored by The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), involved more than 1,000 black and white volunteers.

"The Duke Board of Trustees resolve that qualified applicants may be admitted to degree programs in the Graduate and Professional Schools in Duke University, effective September 1, 1961, without regard to race, creed or national origin."  --from the Minutes of the Board of Trustees, March 8, 1962

In September 1961, six African American students were registered. Three later withdrew. Of the students that stayed, two were enrolled in the Law School, and one in the Divinity School. The Law School students received their degrees in June, 1964, and the Divinity school student in 1965.

The Board of Trustees elect Henry Kind Stanford as UM's third president. 

"The Duke Board of Trustees resolved that qualified applicants may be admitted to degree programs in the undergraduate colleges of Duke University without regard to race, creed or national origin" --from the Minutes of the Board of Trustees, June 2, 1962

In September, 1963, five African American undergraduates enrolled. One left to enter military service, and another left to take a job. The remaining three students received their degrees in 1967.

The first black undergraduates students entered Emory University in the fall of 1963.  The movement towards integration was initiated by faculty who issued a statement in 1958 opposing the closing of public schools to protest desegregation. In a 1960 resolution Arts and Sciences faculty advocated a meeting of church related and private colleges in the Atlanta area to “explore the directions of development that are seen to be desirable by both white and Negro education institutions ...”   Following this the Emory Board of Trustees made policy changes to allow the admission of students of all races.  State laws were in place that denied tax-exemption privileges to schools that became racially integrated. Emory’s petitions to Dekalb County and the Georgia State Supreme Court challenging these laws finally ended in the Supreme Court which ruled in favor of the university in September 1962.

James Meredith becomes the first black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi. Riots ensue.

As Wallace took his position at the door, state troopers surrounded the building. Then, flanked by federal marshals, Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach told Wallace to abide by the federal court order. Wallace refused, citing the constitutional right of states to operate public schools, colleges and universities. President Kennedy federalized the Alabama National Guard to help with the crisis, and, ultimately, Wallace stepped aside.  Vivian Malone and James Hood were allowed to register for classes.

Four young girls (Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Addie Mae Collins) attending Sunday school were killed when a bomb exploded at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, a popular location for civil rights meetings. Riots erupted in Birmingham, leading to the deaths of two more black youths. The explosion at the church marked a turning point in the U.S. 1960s civil rights movement and contributed to support for passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. The Act prohibits discrimination of all kinds based on race, color, religion, or national origin, and also provides the federal government with the powers to enforce desegregation.

Harry G. Boyte, special assistant to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., speaks to UM students in social sciences and human relations.

A rally demonstrating the UM student body's acceptance and approval of American policy in Vietnam.  The rally was sponsored by the Young Republicans and Young Democrats.  The Honorable Dante Fascell (U.S. Congressman from Dade County), Dr. Ivan Hoy (Chairman of the Department of Religion and Army Chaplin), and Major Fred St. Clair (a Vietnam vet) were in attendance.

On February 28, 1966 UM President, Henry King Stanford issued a memo to all faculty, administrators and staff stating the institution’s policy regarding discrimination:

"RESOLVED, that it is the policy of the University of Miami that no citizen of the United States or any other person within the jurisdiction thereof shall, on the ground of race, creed, color or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity of the University."

Martin Luther King, age 39, is shot on the balcony outside his Memphis hotel room. James Earl Ray, an escaped convict and George Wallace supporter, is convicted of the crime.  Ray was sentenced to 99 years in prison.

University of Miami students attend a memorial service in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968), a clergyman and leader of the African-American Civil Rights Movement. As of 1964, he was the youngest recepient of the Nobel Peace Price for his non-violent activism toward desegregation.

The United Black Students (UBS) organized and planned the program for the Martin Luther King Memorial Service held at the University.  President Stanford announced that classes were suspended after 11 a.m.  

The United Black Students (UBS) organized and planned the program for the Martin Luther King Memorial Service held at the University.  President Stanford announced that classes were suspended after 11 a.m.  

UBS presented President Henry King Stanford a document listing 10 requests of the University administration.  The document, Program Objectives of Priority to be Submitted and Acted Upon by the University of Miami Administration, contained provisions for recruitment of black students, 200 scholarships for black applicants, courses in Afro-American culture and more black faculty members.

The Student Union lower lounge's southwest corner (later dubbed "Freedom Corner") was the location for a UBS rally.

At 8:47 am, fourteen members of UBS marched into the Ashe building and into President Henry King Stanford's office for a sit-in demonstration.  The Miami Hurricane reported on Friday, May 17, 1968.  The sit-in was led by University of Miami's student organization United Black Students (UBS) president, Harold Long.

The Miami Hurricane reported that there was an 8:30 pm forum held at the International Lounge to review the actions taken by  the United Black Students (UBS) in the UM's President office on that day.  Jim Gahagan led the forum which consisted of white students: “We are here to gather support from the white students who felt that what UBS did was right, and who are willing to support any further actions by UBS.” Eventually Undergraduate Student Government (USG) President, Mike Abrams, persuaded the students to adjourn to the “Rock” where spontaneous rallies could take place. Adams then notified Dr. William Butler, Vice-President for Student Affairs that the USG would stay to moderate the forum. 

President Henry King Stanford calls a press conference for 2:45 pm.  The conference was to address the UBS sit-in demonstration that occurred in his office at 9:15 am that same day.  The conference was held in the Ashe building with members of the press, ten Miami Hurricane staff members, UBS President, Harold Long, and UBS vice-president, Harold Field.

A group of mostly white students carring picket signs reading, "Cool Fall - Cool Summer, It's Now, UM Has a Racist System and The Zoo Supports UBS", began their demonstration in front of the Administration building and made their way to the Library breezeway.  It was here that a meeting between President Stanford, Dr. Butler, Harold Long and other members of UBS, Department heads and Mike Abrams (USG president) was in progress.

The Board of Trustees' Executive Committee approves the creation of the John F. Kennedy - Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Scholarships.  These scholarships are made available to disadvantaged black students.

Nearly 5,000 people attend Senator Eugene McCarthy's talk at the Student Union.

The School Desegregation Consulting Center at the University of Miami, under the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, served as consultants for school districts, such as Duval County, which were not yet in full compliance with the Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education.

In the case of Duval County Board of Public Instruction, Circuit Court Judge Bryan Simpson, stated in an amended order: “Defendants shall, without delay, request the assistance of the expert consultation of school administrators of the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare, located at the University of Miami, under the South Florida Desegregation Center, for review of the system of assignment for the school year 1967-68 and subsequent years...with a view to complete elimination of segregated schools and racially discriminatory practices in the operation of the Duval County School System.”

As the rioting in Liberty City began to subside, Wayne Thompson, a UM student was arrested by Metro policemen.  He was charged with assult and battery on a policeman.  Thompson was in the area as a part of a federally funded UM study for the Department of Housing & Urban Development.

President Henry King Stanford publishes a letter to the student body in the Miami Hurricane.  This letter outlines his reasons for issuing the ban on both the Confederate Flag and the Dixie song.

UBS burned UM 1969-1970 Course Bulletins in anger over the black oriented courses being left out.  More than 100 students (UBS members and white sympathizers) tore pages from the bulletin and burned them in a trash receptacle.

Harold Long resigns his position as UBS President.

In the Spring of 1969, not only did the United Black Students organize "Black Culture Week" but the University also offered a selection of newly established courses on African Economics Development, Problems in Sub-Saharan Africa, Blacks in American Politics and the History of Blacks in the United States.

The courses were open to all University students and included black guest lecturers.

The desegration of the University of Miami occured within the context of desegragation of Florida elementary and high schools. Like many Southern States, the process moved at a very slow pace in spite of the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 ruling (Brown vs. Board of Education Topeka) establishing school segregaton as unconstitutional.

University of Miami President, Henry King Standford was actively involved in the larger discussions surrounding the issue, especially while serving as Chairman of the Community Relations Board of Miami Dade County.

In 1969, Henry King Stanford (Chairman) and Robert H. Simms (Executive Director) of the Community Relations Board (CRB) authored a special report "Proposed Plan of Action for Intergroup Relations in Dade County Public Schools."  This document outlined the CRB's proposal for inter-group relations in Miami-Dade County schools in compliance with the court's mandate for desegregation.

United Black Students (UBS) and Black Sisters for Progress (BSP) rally to protest “a nationwide pattern of police action against the Panthers.” 

Ten members of UM’s United Black Students (UBS) and three Palmetto High School students were formally charged with “disrupting school functions and unlawful assembly” by the city of Miami.