A federal appeals court ruled Jan. 27 that Mississippi?s $503

million desegregation lawsuit settlement will stand. Jake Ayers Sr.

sued in 1975 on behalf of his son, who attended Jackson State

University, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. In the

suit, Ayers and other African Americans wanted the state of

Mississippi to provide more money for improving the three

historically African American colleges in the state. In March 2002,

a federal judge approved the settlement between the private

plaintiffs and the government, but some of the private plaintiffs

appealed that decision, saying they were underrepresented.

University of Wisconsin education administration professor Clifton

Conrad has served as an expert witness for the Department of

Justice on cases involving the desegregation of public higher

education since 1980. Conrad was also involved in the writing of

the settlement for the case brought against Jackson State

University. Conrad explained that in 1992, the Supreme Court ruled

Mississippi was still segregated. The settlement took 10 years to

write, Conrad said. In the end, the government, private plaintiffs

and higher education officials agreed on a number. The settlement

money will be paid out over a 17-year period. Jackson State, Alcorn

State and Mississippi Valley State University will receive

settlement money under the decision. Jean Frazier, director of

public relations at Jackson State University, illustrated just how

crucial the funding will be to the universities. ?Jackson State?s

operating budget for this year is $78.68 million, which supports

1,400 faculty and close to 8,000 students,? Frazier said. ?But in

the past three years, Mississippi?s state universities have had

their funding cut by $100 million. So that presents such a

challenge when coupled with racial disparities.? Frazier said the

settlement money will be used at Jackson State for the continued

development of new programs, such as the School of Engineering.

?Jackson State and two other universities in Mississippi?s state

system have engineering schools, and the money is needed for

facilities, labs and personnel. We want to build a program that

will attract students from Mississippi and across the country,?

Frazier said. One of the provisions of the settlement is that three

historically African American colleges enroll at least ten percent

of their student body a race other than African American. ?I never

was in favor of a percentage but I wanted to make it that white

students felt welcome,? Conrad said. Frazier said Jackson State

currently has plans ?on a broad scale to attract minorities.?

Although the settlement took 29 years, both parties emphasized they

are happy to see progress being made. ?I would?ve liked to see it

go a little further in terms of funding,? Conrad said. ?But the

state needs to continue to make significant monetary contributions

to these colleges in the future so the plan finds full and

continuing support, otherwise it will be a failure from the

judgment of history.?