After 29 years and millions of dollars in legal fees, the Ayers desegregation case may finish soon. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans released an opinion Tuesday that approved the case’s settlement.
Only a few of the initial plaintiffs continue the legal battle. It is not known whether the plaintiffs plan to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The terms of the February 2002 settlement force the Mississippi Legislature to provide a half-billion dollars over 17 years to Mississippi’s three historically black public universities, Alcorn State, Jackson State and Mississippi Valley State universities. The schools will be able to receive money until the appeals end.
“We are delighted with the Court’s action on the settlement and we are grateful to the legislature and the governor for their support of the funding which is making the settlement possible,” said David Potter, commissioner of higher education, in a news release.
The settlement calls for:
* $246 million to be spent on academics at the three universities in order to attract more white students.
* $75 million would benefit capital improvements.
* $70 million to public endowments.
* $35 million on private endowments.
Other programs would receive the remainder of the $503 million settlement, according to The Associated Press.
The money is not coming from the regular appropriations for higher education, so Mississippi State would not experience a drop in funding, said Pam Smith, spokeswoman for the Institutions of Higher Learning. Rather, the Mississippi Legislature is appropriating extra money for the historically black universities.
The schools are prepared to receive the money, Smith said.
“On the program side, the three presidents are absolutely ready to go hire people,” Smith said. “They have their curriculum ready.”
The capital improvements may take a bit longer, Smith said.
“We have one building at Alcorn (State) that has not been able to be furnished because the Ayers money hasn’t been there to furnish it,” she said. Other buildings are still in the planning stages, Smith said.
U.S. District Court Judge Neal Biggers signed the settlement of the case in February 2002. U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Bolton, signed the settlement of behalf of the plaintiffs. Thompson was one of the original plaintiffs.
Some of the plaintiffs appealed to the 5th Circuit Court in November, saying that the settlement caused large drops in enrollment at the three historically black institutions.
During the hearing, Alvin Chambliss, attorney for the plaintiffs, said that the schools have seen a 56 percent drop in enrollment since 1976.
The drop occurred because more black students are attending community colleges and the historically white universities, said Paul Stephenson, attorney for the College Board
Federal efforts to desegregate Mississippi’s higher education system began in 1969, when the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare ordered the state to produce a desegregation plan for its colleges. Federal officials rejected a 1973 plan submitted by the state. The U.S. Department of Justice overtook enforcement efforts.
In 1975, Jake Ayers filed suit in federal court on behalf of his son, a student at JSU. Ayers claimed that the state had favored its historically white public universities over its historically black public universities. Eventually, several other plaintiffs joined the case, including Thompson and the U.S. Justice Department.
1n 1992, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in an 8-1 decision that Mississippi had still not done an adequate job of desegregating its public universities. The official name of the Supreme Court case is United States v. Fordice, in reference to the then-governor of Mississippi, Kirk Fordice.
SHIRTTAIL CREDIT: The Associated Press contributed to this report.