Describes a plan to end Mississippi's 26-year-old college desegregation case, which is hailed by government officials but criticized by others, who say it fails to improve access to college for black students. (EV)

A chronology of action arising from a 1970 lawsuit brought against the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund is presented. (MLW)

The text of Judge John H. Pratt order dismissing the "Adams" college desegregation case is presented. (MLW)

Statements released by the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education summarizing the office's findings on the states' progress in meeting goals set out in their desegregation plans are presented. (MLW)

Supporters of Black colleges have said that the threat of court-imposed penalities was an invaluable asset in efforts to win state funds and block proposals to close Black colleges. That leverage is gone with a recent ruling by a federal judge. (MLW)

Judge John H. Pratt held that under a 1984 Supreme Court ruling, the civil-rights organizations that had pursued the "Adams case" no longer had the legal standing to continue it. He found it was "speculative" whether the cutoff of federal funds would lead discriminatory states to change their actions. (MLW)

The Education Department declared that four states that had been under court order to desegregate their public colleges were now in compliance with federal civil rights laws and that six others were expected to fulfill their obligations easily. Civil rights lawyers said none of the states had met the requirements. (MLW)

Federal investigators have found that many colleges and universities lack satisfactory systems for recruiting black faculty members, even after years of operating under court-ordered desegregation plans. There was also widespread dissatisfaction among black students at many colleges. The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights' report is…