Six Black students in Wichita County properly applied for admission to Hardin Junior College, which was open to white students only. The applicants possessed all the qualifications for admission, but the Board of Trustees and the college’s officers rejected them because they were Black. The students sued, asking the district court to prohibit the board from denying them admission because of their race. The district court heard the case and ruled that Black students were entitled to educational opportunities equal to those available to the district’s white students. Therefore, the six students (and others) had to be admitted to Hardin. The Board appealed the case to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The Fifth Circuit Court found that there were equal schools maintained for Black students in other places in the state. However, the inconvenience, loss of time, and loss of money forced upon Black students by attending distant schools took a severe toll on the students and their parents. The Court ruled on behalf of the students, saying "if one is forced to leave several hundred miles to an institution, this is discrimination, which the law does not allow."