Knight v. State of Alabama, Civ. A. No. CV 83-M-1676.

• Citation: 900 F. Supp. 272
• Decision Date: 25 September 1995
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. CV 83-M-1676.
• Parties: John F. KNIGHT, Jr., Alease Sims, et al., Plaintiffs, v. The STATE OF ALABAMA, et al., Defendants. UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. The STATE OF ALABAMA, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Alabama

900 F. Supp. 272

John F. KNIGHT, Jr., Alease Sims, et al., Plaintiffs, v. The STATE OF ALABAMA, et al., Defendants.

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. The STATE OF ALABAMA, et al., Defendants.

Civ. A. No. CV 83-M-1676.

United States District Court, N.D. Alabama, Southern Division.

August 1, 1995.

Order Granting in Part Motions to Alter or Amend Decree September 25, 1995.

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James U. Blacksher, Leslie M. Proll, Demetrius Newton, Birmingham, AL, Wendy Brown-Scott, Tulane Law School, New Orleans, LA, Naomi Truman, Birmingham, AL, for Petitioners John F. Knight, et al.

Solomon S. Seay, Jr., Montgomery, AL, Fred Gray, Tuskegee, AL, Armand Derfner, Charleston, SC, Terry G. Davis, Montgomery, AL, for Alabama State University.

C. Glenn Powell, Norma Lemley, Office of Counsel, University of Alabama System, Tuscaloosa, AL, for University of Alabama.

Jeffery A. Foshee, Jeffery A. Foshee & Associates, Montgomery, AL, for Alabama State Board of Education, Athens State College, Calhoun State Community College, Chancellor Fred Gainous.

Richard N. Meadows, General Counsel, State Department of Education, Montgomery, AL, for State Superintendent of Education, State Board of Education, K-12 Capacity.

Joe R. Whatley, Jr., W. Braxton Schell, Jr., Peter H. Burke, Cooper, Mitch, Crawford, Kuykendall & Whatley, Birmingham, AL, John Falkenberry, Birmingham, AL, for Alabama A & M University.

Carl Johnson, Bishop, Colvin, Johnson & Kent, Birmingham, AL, for University of Montevallo.

Maxey J. Roberts, University Attorney, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, for University of South Alabama.

Ernest N. Blasingame, Jr., Florence, AL, for University of North Alabama.

R.M. Woodrow, Doster & Woodrow, Anniston, AL, for Jacksonville State University.

Thomas W. Thagard, Jr., David R. Boyd, Robin Laurie, Balch & Bingham, Montgomery, AL, Edward S. Allen, Balch & Bingham, Birmingham, AL, for Auburn University.

William F. Murray, Jr., Burr & Forman, Birmingham, AL, for Troy State University.

Victoria Sisson, Gorham, Stewart, Kendrick, Bryant & Battle, Birmingham, AL, for Livingston University.

Craig Crenshaw, Pauline Miller, Jeremiah Glassman, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Educational Opportunities Section, Washington, DC, for The United States of America.

William F. Gardner, William K. Thomas, Cabaniss, Johnston, Gardner, Dumas & O'Neal, Birmingham, AL, for Troy State University Montgomery.

                The Legal Standard of Fordice and Knight .....................................  281
                DEFINITIONS ..................................................................  282
                   Student Choice Generally ..................................................  282
                   Specifics of Student Choice ...............................................  282
                   Segregative Effects .......................................................  284
                   Educational Soundness .....................................................  284
                   Practicability ............................................................  285
                The Court-appointed Neutral Experts ..........................................  285
                Liability and the court-appointed Neutral Experts ............................  286
                Mission — What the Court must evaluate .................................  287
                Mission, Role and Scope in Higher Education ..................................  290
                Programs .....................................................................  290
                    ACHE and the HBIs in the Past ............................................  290
                    Role .....................................................................  291
                    Programs .................................................................  291
                The Predicates ...............................................................  292
                    The University of Alabama Huntsville .....................................  292
                        Additional Findings ..................................................  292
                           UAH's Financial Situation .........................................  292
                           Business Program Accreditation Generally ..........................  292
                           UAH's Business Program ............................................  293
                           UAH's Education Program ...........................................  293
                        Findings Regarding Nursing at UAH ....................................  294
                        Impracticability and Educational Unsoundness of Diminishing UAH's
                           Programs ..........................................................  294
                           Business ..........................................................  294
                           Education .........................................................  295
                           Nursing ...........................................................  295
                    Alabama A & M University .................................................  296
                        Enrollment Generally .................................................  296
                        Teacher Education ....................................................  296
                        Instability in Leadership at AAMU ....................................  296
                        Of Business, Bonds, and Buildings at AAMU ............................  296
                    Calhoun State Community College ..........................................  297
                        Enrollment ...........................................................  297
                        The Acustar Facility .................................................  298
                    The Montgomery Situation .................................................  298
                        Previous Findings ....................................................  298
                        Joint and Cooperative Programs .......................................  299
                            ASU and TSUM .....................................................  299
                            ASU and AUM ......................................................  299
                   Troy State University in Montgomery .......................................  300
                

                             Courses Relinquished by TSUM in Consent Decree ...........................  302
                             Distance Learning at Troy State ..........................................  302
                         Degrees Awarded at TSUM and ASU ..............................................  303
                         Alabama State University .....................................................  303
                             Enrollment ...............................................................  304
                             AAUP Censure .............................................................  304
                             Negative Media Coverage ..................................................  304
                             State Employee Training ..................................................  305
                         Accounting at Auburn University in Montgomery and Alabama State University ...  305
                         Allied Health Programs in Montgomery .........................................  306
                Policies and Practices With Continuing Segregative Effects ............................  306
                     Proximate Institutions ...........................................................  306
                     Funding ..........................................................................  307
                         Catching up ..................................................................  311
                     ASU's and AAMU's Outspoken Commitment to Their Heritage ..........................  313
                     Leadership at ASU and AAMU .......................................................  314
                REMEDIAL CONSIDERATIONS ...............................................................  315
                     Program Transfer Generally .......................................................  315
                     Engineering at AAMU ..............................................................  315
                     AAMU and CSCC-H ..................................................................  317
                     Other-Race Scholarships ..........................................................  318
                         Generally ....................................................................  318
                         AAMU and ASU .................................................................  319
                         A Critical Mass ..............................................................  319
                     Advertising ......................................................................  320
                     Closing or Merging TSUM ..........................................................  321
                     Endowments .......................................................................  322
                LAND GRANT ............................................................................  322
                     Current Posture ..................................................................  322
                     Possible Segregative Effects .....................................................  323
                     Extension ........................................................................  323
                     Black Involvement in Extension Policy-Making .....................................  324
                         Generally ....................................................................  324
                     ACES Specialists .................................................................  324
                         From the Bottom ..............................................................  325
                         From the Top .................................................................  326
                         From the Middle ..............................................................  326
                     Black Involvement in Research Policy Making ......................................  327
                     Delivery of Extension Services and Black Farmers .................................  328
                     Effect of Land Grant Funding on Student Choice ...................................  329
                     Urban Rural Split ................................................................  330
                     Remedial Findings ................................................................  332
                         The Extension

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