A crowd of listeners assembled in the University of Massachusetts Campus Center Thursday night in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the 1954 Supreme Court decision in the Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kan.

The discussion was a part of the observance of Black History Month.

The four featured UMass faculty panelists that led the discussion were Professor John H. Bracey Jr. of the Afro-American studies department, Assistant Professors Thomas M. Hilbink and Bernie D. Jones of the legal studies department and Assistant Professor Laura L. Lovett of the history department.

The panel discussed the groundbreaking case, Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, which eliminated separate but equal status in public schools.

The panel addressed the history of desegregation and integration in schools, as well as the results the Supreme Court decision brought for social change.

Professor Bracey was the first speaker amongst the panelists, and recalled some of his experiences growing up in Washington, D.C. and dealing with desegregation and integration throughout his time as a student. He recalled the memory of having to use books in high school that were stamped as “discarded” that had once belonged to students from prominent white schools.

On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in a unanimous decision that the idea of “separate but equal” was unconstitutional because it violated children’s 14th amendment rights by separating them solely on the classification of the color of their skin.

Then Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the court’s opinion, affirming that “segregated schools are not equal and cannot be made equal, and hence they are deprived of the equal protection laws.”

The case was made in 1951, when Oliver Brown tried to enroll his daughter in a white elementary school. The school was closer to her home than the black elementary school. The principal of that school refused.

Thirteen other parents joined Brown and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People requested an injunction that would forbid the segregation of Topeka’s public schools.

The decision did not automatically end school segregation, but it did destroy the constitutional foundation upon which legalized segregation.

“[The case] didn’t lead to an immediate movement, but it changed people’s expectations,” Hilbink said.

Hilbink said he was inspired the moment he learned of the Brown case, and felt an emotional connection with Brown. Brown was a figure that represented social change, Hilbink said.

“Brown represented a rise of elite policy making,” Hilbink said.

After the end of the discussions, the panel answered several questions from the listeners.

The panel discussion was open to the public, and took place at 7 p.m. at the Campus Center in room 168C.

The event was sponsored by the Student Activities Center and by Student Affairs and Campus Life.