Alabama Desegregation Orders Due To Expire

Judicial orders on a 1981 de-segregation case are set to expire and it could affect Alabama A&M University.  Judicial orders from the 23 year old lawsuit, Knight-Sims vs. Alabama higher education will expire next July...But plaintiffs are hoping the orders are extened.  Plainiffs filed suit in Knight-Sims versus Alabama higher education to help give historically black universities the same oppurtunities as historically white universities. As a result, the court mandated a wide variety of reforms ranging from efforts to increase the representation of blacks on the faculities and administrations of the historically white universities...to providing new academic programs and funds for historically black universities. If the decrees expire...Alabama A& M could possibly lose state funding. Alease Sims says "Funding for the programs that we have established and the programs they are trying to bring on before the July 31st deadline that will need continued funding and we have to be concerned about continued funding for our new urban extension programs, our school of engineering." [more