1972-1977

OrderChanges Little DECATUR - Agreements made in connection with a 1975 racial discrimination suit during a pretrail conference in U.S. District Court in Oxford Friday did little to change matters here at East tentral Junior College. According to ECJC President Dr. Charles Wright, "the end result... as we stand...is just like we started. " As a result, Northern District Federal Judge William Keady instructed the colleges to submit a plan, "collectively or individually." "In the meantime," said Wright, "the Justice Department presented us with a consent order." Describing it as eight or nine pages, double spaced, Wright said the order did not amount to a "whole lot," for we were already doing "some of those things."

The snag, if there is one, is apparently related to the fact that phins r~rctofo,·e submii1ed by and agreed to by the ECJC Board of Trustees have never been approved or disapproved by the appropriate entities. According to Wright, ECJC has exhibited faith in complying with requests for desegration or an end to racial discrimination charges for quite a few years. A suit charging racial discrimination against Missis– sippi's institutions of high learning was first brought against the eight universities and 16 junior colleges in Washington back in 1973. At this time, all institutions were to submit a plan for desegration to the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW). The original order of one plan for the whole state was objected to as impossible, said Wright, and the schools drew up · individual plans which were incor– porated into an overall summary. ' 'They never accepted or rejected it." said Wright. He said that he, along with five other state junior college presidents, went to Wash– ington to talk ·with the appropriate officials but never received a defin ite ves or no as far as acceptanc~ of the submitted plan(s). In 1975, the matter was brought back to the state when a suit was filed against the colleges by the Black Mississippians: Council on Higher Education ch;rging that the state's higher education system encourages racial discrimination.

If signed, the order, they were told, would alleviate the necessity of going to court if the attorney for the plantiff, the judge et. al., agreed, Wright said. In June of this year, the ECJC Board of Trustees met and after studying the consent order, they asked a Justice Department official if several parts could be omitted, and at which time, according to Wright, he granted the request. An amended copy was returned to the Board and they signed it June 21, Wright said. As of today, (Tuesday) neither the plaittiff's attorney nor the Justice Department has signed. - ------ The ECJC President indicated the delay might be due to "procedural differences," that a legal techni– cality involving the term "with or without prejudice" in connection with the other two parties signing of the consent order might mean the difference between the Decatur institution being out from under the order within four years. If the parties agree to sign the order "without predjudice," Wright noted, then the matter wi11 be settled. Otherwise, it could be reopened at any time. The consent order, as reportedly agreed to Friday by the attorneys representing minorities at ECJC, will require the college to formulate an affirmative action plan to recruit, admit and keep minority students. Wright said they already have plans to include bot~ blacks and whites in their annual recruiting campaigns. It would also require the college to employ blacks in professional positions. Five blacks would have to hold faculty positions at the college by the 1981-82 school year. Wright said they already had a black filling the position of assistant librarian, and have employed others in the past. Their plans are to add a black

counselor and three others in academic capacities. As far as the requirement concerning goals for minority enrollment, Wright indicated that he felt they were already in compliance. ECJC, he noted, has two minority groups, Indians as well as blacks. The consent order would reportedly require SO minority students out of a total of 510 students enrolled in the academic ·program dufing th.: 1977-78 ierm. the total of minority students would increase to 63 out of 510 by the 1980-81 term. In voc3tional technical education at the school , 94 minority students would be required of a total enrollment of 320 in the 1977-78 term. Wright said that eight of the 16 junior colleges were ready to sign, two are partially ready, two are having to revise their plans and four will be going to court. As far as ECJC is concerned, complying with the consent order will not be a difficult thing. "There are some little things we are going to have to do that we were going to do anyway," concluded Wright.

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-CAROL PERKINS I