 Sitterson took office in the midst of the controversy surrounding the North Carolina Speaker Ban Law, a state law passed on June 26, 1963 by the North Carolina General Assembly which forbade individuals who were known to be members of the Communist Party or had invoked the Fifth Amendment in connection with congressional investigations of communist activities from speaking on any of the campuses of the University of North Carolina.Student leaders and faculty members of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill led a campus movement in opposition to the law, which climaxed with the invitation of speakers Herbert Aptheker (an avowed communist) and Frank Wilkinson (an outspoken critic of the House Un-American Activities Committee).Two weeks into his chancellorship, Sitterson denied the students' request to allow Aptheker and Wilkinson to speak on campus.