Colleges could lose money to recruit minorities
The Geier Consent Decree, established in 2001 to settle a longtime legal battle to desegregate Tennessee colleges, is up for final review in 2006 by a federal court in Nashville. If the court agrees that the terms of the consent decree have been met, the case will be dismissed.
The consent decree required Tennessee to spend $75 million over 10 years to help public colleges and universities diversify their student bodies, faculties and staffs.
So far, about $67 million of the Geier money has been budgeted to establish scholarships, faculty salary incentives, marketing campaigns and other initiatives to attract black students and faculty to state schools.
Black student enrollment at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has outpaced the rest of the five-campus UT system. About 19 percent of the total student body is black, up from 11 percent two decades ago.
The University of Memphis increased its black student population from nearly 19 percent in 1984 to more than 35 percent this year. The University of Tennessee’s rose from 4.6 percent to 8.1 percent in that time period.
Other state schools saw smaller increases: East Tennessee State University’s black student population rose from 2.7 percent to 4.2 percent; Tennessee Technological University saw an increase from 2 percent to 4.2 percent; and Austin Peay State University increased from 16.2 percent to 17.9 percent.
Deputy Attorney General Kevin Steiling said the case likely will go before the judge in July. Once Geier is settled, any continuing programs would have to include all minorities rather than focusing on just blacks, administrators said.
State Rep. Bill Dunn said he doesn’t support continuing the funding once the case ends because the money has produced “little to no results.”
“There are probably better ways to spend the taxpayer dollars than on this program,” said the Knoxville Republican, a member of the legislature’s joint Fiscal Review Committee.
Wendy Thompson, who manages programs created by the Geier consent decree for the Tennessee Board of Regents, said she hopes the funding will continue so that schools can continue to reach out to blacks.
“Our efforts have shown that without focused funds, you can’t make that kind of effort,” she said.
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Information from: Chattanooga Times Free Press, http://www.tfponline.com