United States v. State of Alabama

628 F. Supp. 1137, 31 Educ. L. Rep. 62, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13050
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Alabama
DecidedDecember 7, 1985
DocketCiv. A. 83-C-1676-S
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 628 F. Supp. 1137 (United States v. State of Alabama) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. State of Alabama, 628 F. Supp. 1137, 31 Educ. L. Rep. 62, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13050 (N.D. Ala. 1985).

Opinion

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 ..........U43

B. Auburn Polytechnic Institute .........H44

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 ....................H51

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

MEMORANDUM OF OPINION

CLEMON, District Judge.

*1140 Introduction

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.

I.

The Historical Development of the Dual System of Higher Education

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.

University of Alabama

The University of Alabama is the flagship institution of higher learning in the State of Alabama.

In the 1819 statute granting statehood to the Alabama Territory, an entire township was reserved and appropriated to the state legislature “for the use of a seminary of learning.” The education article of the Alabama Constitution of 1819 provided that there

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Bluebook (online)
628 F. Supp. 1137, 31 Educ. L. Rep. 62, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13050, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-state-of-alabama-alnd-1985.