Feds Close Title VI Investigation in Ohio

Black Issues in Higher Education, March 19, 1998 by Mark Fisher

DAYTON, Ohio -- The decision by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to close its active Title VI investigation into the state of Ohio's treatment of Central State University (CSU) triggered mixed reactions ranging from praise to sharp criticism in and around the Wilberforce, Ohio campus.

OCR Assistant Secretary Norma V. Cantu notified Ohio Gov. George Voinovich in a February 17 letter that her office had "closed" its investigation into the discrimination case that has spanned two decades. The department had reopened its investigation in March 1997, at the height of legislative threats to merge or shut down the school.

OCR deputy assistant secretary Raymond C. Pierce emphasized the action does not mean the complaint is resolved. OCR will continue to monitor the state of Ohio's efforts to rebuild Central State and incorporate it as a full partner among Ohio's public higher-education institutions, he said.

"There is no determination that the violation has been corrected," Pierce said.

But that statement was met with skepticism among some CSU officials and supporters.

The OCR found in 1981 that Ohio had violated federal civil-rights laws in its funding and treatment of CSU. It concluded that the state's decision to build and enhance Wright State University -- just eleven miles away -- amounted to discrimination against CSU's students and faculty. The complaint was never resolved, and Ohio became the only state among those cited by the OCR during the period to have never submitted a plan to resolve the complaint.

The department's decision to close the investigation appears to remove the threat of an imminent federal lawsuit against the state or efforts to withhold federal money from Ohio colleges.

Cantu told Voinovich the state's efforts so far -- including legislation that funds CSU's operations for the next two years and a "CSU 2000" strategic plan embraced by CSU's board of trustees -- demonstrate the state's commitment to the school.

"The legislation and plan call for future efforts to strengthen Central State, which are key to our decision to close our investigation," Cantu wrote.

Voinovich spokesman Mike Dawson said the governor was pleased with the decision, which he said resulted from "a lot of negotiations back and forth." Dawson said the goal now is to continue the university's progress.

Voinovich, a Republican, has indicated he will run for the U.S. Senate seat now held by John Glenn, a Democrat who announced he will not seek re-election this November.

CSU Board of Trustees Chairman Frederick Ransier III said he believed the OCR's decision was "premature" but interpreted the action as "a strong endorsement" of the school's rebuilding efforts to date.

Snyder Garland, president of the NAACP chapter in Greene County, Ohio, where CSU is located, said he does not accept the OCR's decision.

"Any fool could look at this and see the disparity of treatment" between CSU and other state-supported universities, he said. "[CSU] has not been made whole.... This is totally inappropriate."

Robert Marcus, president of CSU's American Association of University Professors (AAUP) faculty union, said the, civil rights office's decision suggests that federal officials approve of the faculty layoffs and program cuts that have taken place at the university. Last August, nineteen faculty members were terminated for budgetary reasons, and some academic departments were merged. That followed earlier staff cuts.

"If the federal government is saying it is pleased with the downsizing, I'm concerned about that," Marcus said.

Only fourteen months ago, the civil rights office was telling state officials in a draft compliance plan that they would have to upgrade and enhance CSU in order to resolve the discrimination complaint. That plan called for -- among other initiatives -- expanding academic programs, particularly graduate programs, and for installing equipment in CSU dormitory rooms.

State Sen. Jeff Johnson, a Cleveland Democrat and candidate for the congressional seat held by the retiring U.S. Rep. Louis Stokes, said he supported the suspension of the active investigation.

"They can always reopen the investigation if the state does not fulfill its commitments," said Johnson, who helped lead legislative efforts to save the school's funding in early 1997.

The downsizing of faculty and staff "had to occur to get the business and finances in order and to get the school funded for the next two years," Johnson said. "Sometimes you have to take two steps back to take three or four steps forward."

State Sen. Rhine McLin (D-Dayton) said she would have been more comfortable with some sort of consent decree that would have resolved the federal discrimination case altogether.

"I'm a little wary about this," McLin said. "The university is on the right track, but it could easily slip back to the way it was through benign neglect by the legislature.... I would have preferred to see the federal government stay in it a little longer."

One high-ranking CSU official who asked not to be named said he could not understand the OCR's timing, since the university is just beginning to push for much-needed capital improvements funding to repair and renovate facilities.