New 'Fordice' report may benefit Mississippi HBCUs - Ayers v. Fordice, historically Black colleges and universities

Black Issues in Higher Education, August 6, 1998 by Garry Bouland

Jackson, Miss. -- The new report is 400 pages and 100,000 words -- one of the bulkiest in memory -- and is touted as a reaffirmation of the importance of the nation's historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

Further Desegregation of Higher Education in the Mississippi Delta proposes a plan that would move Mississippi further from its racially separatist past and into a more diverse, racially inclusive future. It was produced as a result of one of the longest-running college desegregation cases in the nation -- Ayers v. Fordice -- by the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning.

James Lyons, the president of Jackson State University, one of Mississippi's eight HBCUs, called the study, which was released last month, a "good foundation on which to build.... What we've done here today is to reaffirm the importance of the nation's historically African American universities."

Ayers v. Fordice is a twenty-three-year-old case in which the late Jake Ayers Sr. filed a lawsuit -- on behalf of his son and almost two dozen other Black Mississippi students -- that sought to end the state's racially motivated dual system of education. In 1992, six years after the elder Ayers's death, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed that Mississippi's dual system of education was unfair and something had to be done about it.

One of the report's proposals calls for putting more money into the state's HBCUs in an attempt to make them more attractive to students of all colors. In particular, the study recommends the establishment of a college of engineering at Jackson State, which will also offer doctoral programs in business, social work, and urban and regional development.

"Jackson [State] is one of the few capital cities or metropolitan regions of its size that fails to offer an engineering program to citizens of the region," the report states. "An engineering program is critical to [the] enhancement of Jackson [State]'s ability to attract and retain business and industry."

Thomas Layzell, Mississippi's commissioner of higher education, said he likes the idea of a college of engineering, but noted that it could cost as much as $9 million over a six- to ten-year period to get the college going. That money would have to first be approved by the state's legislature, a historically tight-fisted group that responds suspiciously to public spending.

"We anticipate the legislature will be responsive to us," Layzell said hopefully.

But Charles Young, the chairman of the Mississippi House of Representative's Committee on Universities and Colleges, thinks that the $9 million price tag may be a hard sell.

"There are members [of the legislature] who are going to be more concerned about spending that kind of money than anything else," he predicts. "I, for one, am more concerned about making all of our schools competitive [and] to do what is in line with the Ayers decision. But you have to address the financial concerns, too."

The study also recommends enhancing a wide array of programs at two other HBCUs -- Delta State and Mississippi Valley State universities. A statewide system of satellite schools would be created for both institutions, and their annual building maintenance budgets would be consolidated with the rest of Mississippi's higher education system.

Layzell was quick to note that pulling together the maintenance expenses should not be considered a move to gain control over the state's higher education institutions.

"The board concluded early on that it did not make good sense for the board to have total control of funding," he explained. "It's not practical."

Reaction to the study in the state's higher education community appears to be positive.

That lack of criticism thus far, however, may have to do with the size of the report. The study is composed of three separate reports, and it takes time to wade through the countless charts, graphs, and inevitably dense committee-style writing.

"The board has worked very diligently to make sure these reports not only dealt with the issues of the case, but reflected the board's goals and priorities," said Rick Garrett, a member of the Mississippi College Board. "We feel they are reflective of what should be happening in higher education today."

However, there are those who see problems ahead.

"We have some high-quality Black colleges and universities down there," said Thomas Colbert, a banker from Brandon, Mississippi who is serving a ten-year term on the College Board. "But the competition for students has become ferocious ... so now a lot of people are concerned that there is going to be an actual demise of the Black schools.

"I see a huge problem," he continued. "Do you want to get a degree from a 150-year-old institution, or one that is twenty or thirty years old? Do you want a degree from Ole Miss or some small state school? That is the challenge we are facing now, and I don't know what to do about it."

At press time, Republican Governor Kirk Fordice had not yet issued a public statement on the proposals. And although Mississippi's legislature will not take up the issue of whether or not to approve funding for Jackson State's new college of engineering until the next regular session begins early next year, the board remains optimistic that most of the report's findings will eventually be implemented.