Law & Courts

Mississippi Reaches Accord In Higher Education Desegregation Case

By John Gehring — May 02, 2001 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Representatives in a long-running desegregation lawsuit involving Mississippi’s higher education system have reached a $503 million settlement that is intended to address decades of deliberate racial segregation in state colleges and universities.

Filed last week in federal court in Oxford, Miss., the agreement seeks to improve academic programs and facilities at the state’s three historically black universities-Jackson State, Alcorn State, and Mississippi Valley State universities.

The settlement was reached between the three schools, the U.S. Department of Justice, and Mississippi’s Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Education.

U.S. District Court Judge Neal B. Biggers Jr. still must approve the plan. The class action was brought in 1975 by Jake Ayers Sr. on behalf of his son and 21 other students who argued that Mississippi maintained a segregated higher education system and funded historically black colleges at lower levels than the state’s five predominantly white institutions.

Judge Biggers ruled in 1987 that the state had done enough to desegregate the system. But in 1992, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the state’s historically black institutions were still underfunded, and that Mississippi continued to operate separate and unequal systems of higher education.

Under the agreement, the state would provide Jackson State, Alcorn State, and Mississippi State $246 million for new academic programs at the three schools over 17 years.

Some $75 million would be spent over five years on capital-improvement projects at the schools; $70 million would be earmarked for a publicly financed endowment; and $35 million would be allotted for a privately financed endowment.

The plan also calls for increasing the amount of financial aid for high school graduates attending summer remedial classes who otherwise would not qualify for regular admission to Mississippi’s university system.

Members of the board of trustees agreed to seek, and the state legislature is expected to provide, special funding of $500,000 annually for the next five years—and $750,000 for five additional years—to increase the amount of financial aid available for those summer classes

Reverse Enrollment

The state’s historically black universities would be required to maintain an integrated student enrollment under the plan. For at least three years in a row, at least 10 percent of their enrollment would have to be students who were not African-American.

The colleges would not have access to either the publicly or privately financed endowment until they achieved that percentage. The mandate has been strongly opposed by some plaintiffs in the case and some faculty members and students at the three institutions.

Officials at the three universities say they have spent millions of dollars to attract whites and other nonblack students, but have had a difficult time doing so because of the perception that the schools still are inferior to traditionally white institutions. More than half the black students who graduate from public colleges in the state now obtain degrees from traditionally white schools.

Faculty members, students, and alumni from historically black universities in the state formed the Mississippi Coalition for Black Higher Education last fall to push for what they would consider to be a more equitable ruling in the Ayers case.

The group has filed a federal court motion seeking to divide the plaintiffs into two groups, so that those who opposed the agreement would not be bound by the settlement if the federal judge approves it.

Among other issues, the group opposes linking increased money for historically black institutions to their ability to attract white students.

It also wants the agreement to change the governance structure of the state’s universities to make sure historically black universities are better represented on the state’s public college board.

A version of this article appeared in the May 02, 2001 edition of Education Week as Mississippi Reaches Accord In Higher Education Desegregation Case

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Mathematics Webinar
Engaging Every Learner: Strategies to Boost Math Motivation
Math Motivation Boost! Research & real tips to engage learners.
Content provided by Prodigy Education
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Student Well-Being Webinar
The Ripple Effect: Mental Health & Student Outcomes
Learn how student mental health impacts outcomes—and how to use that data to support your school’s IEP funding strategy.
Content provided by Huddle Up
Artificial Intelligence K-12 Essentials Forum How AI Use Is Expanding in K-12 Schools
Join this free virtual event to explore how AI technology is—and is not—improving K-12 teaching and learning.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Law & Courts Trump Admin. Ends a Decades-Old School Desegregation Order—And Expects to End Others
Officials suggested that other desegregation orders dating to the Civil Rights Movement should be reconsidered.
5 min read
Students from Charlotte High School in Charlotte, N.C., ride a bus together, May 15, 1972.
Students from Charlotte High School in Charlotte, N.C., ride a bus together on May 15, 1972.
Harold L. Valentine/AP
Law & Courts Supreme Court Appears Open to Religious Charter School
The U.S. Supreme Court grappled with whether charter schools are public schools and whether the Constitution permits a religious charter.
7 min read
Supporters of charter schools rally outside of the Supreme Court on April 30, 2025, in Washington.
Supporters of religious charter schools rally outside of the U.S. Supreme Court on April 30, 2025, in Washington.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Law & Courts Supreme Court Poised to Back Student in Key Disability-Rights Case
The U.S. Supreme Court considered what liability standard should apply for cases brought by students under two key federal disability laws.
6 min read
The Tharpe family, pictured outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, on April 28, 2025.
Gina and Aaron Tharpe appear outside the U.S. Supreme Court on April 28 with their daughter Ava, who has a severe form of epilepsy. The court is weighing what liability standard should apply to the suit for damages they filed against their school district.
Mark Walsh/Education Week
Law & Courts Supreme Court Case Could Reshape Landscape for Charter and Religious Schools
The U.S. Supreme Court on April 30 will take up the much-debated case of a Roman Catholic charter school in Oklahoma.
9 min read
Supreme Court 25091823131249
The U.S. Supreme Court is seen in Washington on April 1, 2025. The court on April 30 will take up a much-debated case about whether a state must allow a religious charter school.