United States v. State of Alabama, Civ. A. No. 83-C-1676-S.
| Decision Date | 07 December 1985 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 83-C-1676-S. |
| Citation | 628 F. Supp. 1137 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Alabama |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, John F. Knight, Jr., et al., individually and on behalf of others similarly situated, Plaintiffs-Intervenors, Board of Trustees of Alabama State University and Alabama A & M University, Realigned Plaintiffs, v. The STATE OF ALABAMA; George C. Wallace, Governor of the State of Alabama; the Alabama State Board of Education; Wayne Teague, State Superintendent of Education; Auburn University, a public corporation; Jacksonville State University, a public corporation; Livingston University, a public corporation; Troy State University, a public corporation; the University of Montevallo, a public corporation; the Board of Trustees for the University of Alabama, a public corporation; the University of North Alabama, a public corporation; the University of South Alabama, a public corporation; the Alabama Commission on Higher Education; and the Alabama Public School and College Authority, Defendants. |
Frank W. Donaldson, Caryl P. Privett, William French Smith, Atty. Gen., Wm. Bradford Reynolds, Asst. Atty. Gen., Nathaniel Douglas, Franz Marshall, Jeanne K. Pettenati, Levern M. Younger, Angela Schmidt, Jeremiah Glassman, Pauline A. Miller, Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., for plaintiffs.
Ronald W. Wise, Joan Van Almon, Ira De Ment, De Ment & Wise, Montgomery, Ala., for Wallace and Alabama Com'n of Higher Educ. & Al Public School & College Authority.
Walter J. Merrill, Anniston Ala., for Jacksonville State University.
Joe R. Whatley, Jr., John C. Falkenberry, Falkenberry, Whatley & Heidt, Birmingham, Ala., for Board of Trustees for Alabama A & M.
Donald V. Watkins, Watkins, Carter & Knight, Montgomery, Ala., James U. Blacksher, Larry T. Menefee, Blacksher, Menefee & Stein, Mobile, Ala., for intervenors.
Fred D. Gray, Gray, Langford, Sapp, Davis & Mc Gowan, Tuskegee, Ala., Robert J. Lipshutz, Lipshutz, Frankel, Greenblatt, King & Cohen, Atlanta, Ga., for intervenors amicus curiae: The National Bar Ass'n and The American Jewish Congress.
William F. Gardner, Cabaniss, Johnston, Gardner, Dumas & O'Neil, Birmingham, Ala., Joseph J. Levin, Jr., Sanford, Adams, McCullough & Beard, Washington, D.C., for defendant-intervenor, University of Alabama Huntsville Foundation.
Alan R. Engel, Engel & Smith, Mobile, Ala., Maxey J. Roberts, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Ala., for University of South Alabama.
Richard F. Calhoun, Brantley & Calhoun, Troy, Ala., for Troy State University.
J. Fredric Ingram, William F. Murray, Jr., Thomas, Taliaferro, Forman, Burr & Murray, Birmingham, Ala., for Livingston University.
J. Scott Green, Carl E. Johnson, Jr., Burgin Kent, Birmingham, Ala., Frank Ellis, Jr., Wallace, Ellis, Head & Fowler, Columbiana, Ala., for University of Montevallo.
C. Glenn Powell, Robert L. Potts, University, Ala., for Board of Trustees of University of Alabama.
Demetrius C. Newton, Birmingham, Ala., for intervenors the University Legal Defense Fund and the National Alumni Normalite Ass'n.
J. Richmond Pearson, Birmingham, Ala., for proposed intervenors Oscar Williams, Jr. and R. Franklin Williams.
Charles S. Coody, Jeffery A. Foshee, State Dept. of Educ., Montgomery, Ala., for Wayne Teague, Superintendent of Educ. for State of Alabama and Alabama State Bd. of Educ.
John Richard Carrigan, Edward S. Allen, Balch, Bingham, Baker, Ward, Smith, Bowman & Thagard, M. Stanford Blanton and David R. Boyd, Birmingham, Ala., Thomas W. Thagard, Jr., Montgomery, Ala., Thomas D. Samford, III, Samford & Samford, Opelika, Ala., for Auburn University.
T. Michael Putnam, Ernest Blasingame, Potts, Young, Blasingame & Suttle, Florence, Ala., for University of North Alabama.
Solomon S. Seay, Jr., Terry Davis, Montgomery, Ala., for Board of Trustees for Alabama State.
Robert W. Rieder, Jr., John O. Cates, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Ala.
Armand Derfner, Charleston, S.C., for Alabama State University.
Charles Self, University of Alabama in Birmingham, Ala.
OPINION OUTLINE
Introduction ..................................... 1140
I. The Historical Development of the
Dual System of Higher Education ............ 1140
A. University of Alabama .................... 1140
Autherine Lucy ........................... 1141
Stand In Schoolhouse Door ................ 1143
B. Auburn Polytechnic Institute ............. 1144
Harold Franklin Admission ................ 1144
C. Alabama State Teacher's College .......... 1145
D. Alabama A&M College ...................... 1148
E. University of South Alabama .............. 1151
F. Alabama College .......................... 1151
G. Florence, Livingston, Jacksonville and
Troy State Teachers Colleges ............. 1151
H. Actions of the State Board of Education .. 1152
II. Development In The Period 1965-75 ........... 1153
A. Lee v. Macon County, 267 F.2d 474
(M.D. Ala. 1967) ......................... 1153
B. University of Alabama at Huntsville ..... 1154
C. Auburn University in Montgomery ......... 1154
D. Athens State College ..................... 1155
E. Troy State University at Montgomery 1156
F. Alabama Commission on Higher
Education ............................... 1156
III. The Land Grant Issue ........................ 1157
A. Alabama's Reaction to the First
Morrill Act ............................. 1157
B. The Hatch Act in Alabama ................ 1158
C. The Smith-Lever Act in Alabama ........... 1159
D. Components of Land Grant School .......... 1160
IV. Vestiges of the Dual System of Higher
Education .................................. 1161
A. University of Alabama System ............ 1161
1. University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa) 1161
2. University of Alabama (Birmingham) 1161
3. University of Alabama (Huntsville) 1161
B. Auburn University ........................ 1164
1. Main Campus ........................... 1164
2. Auburn University at Montgomery 1165
C. Alabama State University ................. 1165
D. Alabama A&M University ................... 1166
E. University of South Alabama .............. 1167
F. University of Montevallo ................. 1167
G. University of North Alabama .............. 1167
H. Jacksonville State and Livingston
Universities ............................. 1168
I. Troy State University ................... 1168
J. Athens State ............................ 1169
K. State Board of Education ................ 1169
L. Other Indicia of Vestiges ............... 1170
V. Special Defenses ........................... 1170
A. Asserted Lack of a System of
Higher Education ........................ 1171
B. Effect of ASTA case ..................... 1171
C. Asserted Lack of Standing and
Failure to Exhaust ...................... 1172
Conclusion ........................................ 1173
The merits of this case involve two issues: whether the State of Alabama operated a racially dual system of higher education, and, if so, whether the vestiges of the dual system have now been eliminated. In 1983, the United States initiated this action under 42 U.S.C. § 2000d, d-1, ("Title VI") and the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution against the State of Alabama, its publicly supported institutions of higher learning and related agencies and officials. Two defendants, Alabama A & M University ("A & M") and Alabama State University ("ASU"), were granted leave to realign themselves as plaintiffs.
Since the issues in Knight v. James, 514 F.Supp. 567 (M.D.Ala.1981), are subsumed in this case, the certified class in Knight was permitted to intervene herein and to assert its claims under Title VI and 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
After protracted, voluminous and often unnecessary discovery, the trial of the case commenced in, and consumed the month of July, 1985.
Based on the evidence adduced at trial, and for the reasons which follow, the court concludes that the State of Alabama has indeed operated a dual system of higher education; that in certain respects, the dual system yet exists; and that in other respects, the "root and branches" of the dual system have not been eliminated.
As of May 17, 1954—the date of Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483, 74 S.Ct. 686, 98 L.Ed. 873 (1954)—the system of higher education in Alabama consisted of (1) the University of Alabama, (2) Auburn Polytechnic Institute, (3) Alabama State Teachers College, (4) Alabama A & M College, (5) Florence State Teachers College, (6) Jacksonville State Teachers College, (7) Livingston State Teachers College, (8) Troy State Teachers College and (9) Alabama College. By July 2, 1965—the effective date of Title VI—the University of South Alabama had been added to the system. The historical development of each of these institutions shall be discussed in turn.
The University of Alabama is the flagship institution of higher learning in the State of Alabama.
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