Maj. Gen. Joseph McNeil
McNeil's death leaves Jibreel Khazan (formerly Ezell Blair Jr.) as the sole surviving member of the A&T Four, the group of Black college students who staged a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro on Feb. 1, 1960. The protest sparked a nationwide movement that contributed to the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
David Richmond died in 1990 and Franklin McCain in 2014.
"Joseph McNeil and his fellow North Carolina A&T classmates inspired a nation with their courageous, peaceful protest, powerfully embodying the idea that young people could change the world," said Chancellor James R. Martin II. "His leadership and the example of the A&T Four continue to inspire our students today."
McNeil was 17 when he and his dormitory floormates decided to challenge segregation at the downtown Greensboro Woolworth's store. The catalyst came during a bus trip to campus when McNeil was refused service at a terminal restaurant and directed to eat "around the corner."
"That was the final blow of humiliation. And I had had enough. And I made up my mind that I had to do something," McNeil recalled in a 2014 interview with WUNC FM.
Drawing on his Reserve Officer Training Corps experience at A&T, McNeil helped organize the protest strategy. On that February afternoon, the four freshmen purchased items at Woolworth's before sitting at the whites-only lunch counter and requesting service. When staff refused, they remained seated until closing.
