Opinion ID: 785104
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Second Trial and the Remedial Order

Text: 11 On remand, the district court applied the legal standard articulated by the Supreme Court and found vestiges of segregation with continued segregative effects in several areas of Mississippi's higher-education system. See Ayers v. Fordice, 879 F.Supp. 1419, 1477 (N.D.Miss.1995). To reform these areas, consistent with the Supreme Court's emphasis on educational soundness and practicability, the district court issued a remedial decree, id. at 1494-96, and it ordered the establishment of a three-person committee to monitor the implementation of its decree. Id. at 1494. We describe below only those provisions of the decree that bear on this appeal. 12 Regarding admissions standards, the court accepted the Board's proposed admissions policy, which remains in place today. Id. at 1494 (accepting the Board's proposed admissions policy); id. at 1477-79 (describing that policy). Previously, admissions standards were stricter at the historically white universities than at the historically black universities, and the standards were based almost exclusively on an applicant's performance on the American College Test (ACT). See Fordice, 505 U.S. at 734-35, 112 S.Ct. 2727. The prior admissions standards were a vestige of de jure segregation that continued to have segregative effects: Because African-American applicants as a class scored lower on the ACT than white applicants, the standards effectively channeled black students to the historically black universities. See Fordice, 505 U.S. at 734-35, 112 S.Ct. 2727. Under the Board's current policy, however, uniform standards govern admission to all of the State's universities. Ayers, 879 F.Supp. at 1477-78. Also, rather than being based almost entirely on ACT scores, the current admissions standards also take into account high school grades. Id. Further, applicants who do not meet the regular admissions criteria can still gain admission through completion of a spring screening process, which for some students leads to participation in a summer remedial program and further remedial instruction during the regular academic year. Id. at 1478-79. 13 The decree directed the implementation of the Board's proposals for the development of additional academic programs at Jackson State, including programs in the field of allied health and graduate degrees in social work, urban planning, and business. Id. at 1494. The court further instructed the Board to conduct an institutional study of Jackson State, involving examination of the feasibility and educational soundness of providing additional academic offerings there, such as an engineering school, a law school, and a pharmacy program. Id. at 1494-95. Regarding Alcorn State, the district court ordered the establishment of an MBA program at the school's Natchez Center. Id. Additionally, the court ordered the Board to study whether desegregation in the two state universities in the Mississippi Delta region — Delta State and Mississippi Valley State — could only be achieved through consolidating the two institutions. Id. 14 The remedial decree also directed the State to submit to the monitoring committee a report addressing the practicability of having the State assume control over the facilities-maintenance funds then controlled individually by each of the eight state universities. Id. The district court further instructed the Board to study the feasibility of establishing system-wide coordination of the community colleges in the State in the areas of admissions standards and articulation procedures, and report to the Monitoring Committee regarding its findings. 5 Id. at 1496.