As the leader of the NAACP branch in Arkansas, Bates guided and advised the nine students, known as the Little Rock Nine, when they attempted to enroll in 1957 at Little Rock Central High School, a previously all-white institution. The students' attempts to enroll provoked a confrontation with Governor Orval Faubus, who called out the National Guard to prevent their entry. The guard only let the white students to pass the school gate. Eight students out of the nine were asked to go back home. One student, Elizabeth Eckford, didn't receive the message from Daisy Bates the previous night and was met by a white mob outside the school as she tried to find the other eight students in that morning. The mob threatened to kill the black students; members of the mob harassed not only activists but also Northern journalists who came to cover the story.