The Supreme Court will not consider an appeal of a lower-court ruling invalidating a black-only scholarship program at the University of Maryland at College Park. Reaction among colleges and universities is mixed; many are seeking ways for scholarship programs to favor minorities without excluding whites. (MSE)

The Supreme Court decision in Martin vs. Wilks gives employees dissatisfied with affirmative action hiring plans the right to mount legal challenges to them years after adoption, even if employees did not challenge the plans originally. Some say the plans are vulnerable to new legal challenges, while others say they are not. (MSE)

Colleges must make radical changes in their structure, values, hiring practices, and the way they treat students if they want to attract more minority students and professors. Faculty members are given little incentive to work with minority students. (MLW)

Critics say the University of Maryland's race-specific scholarship program aids mostly well-off blacks and is biased against whites. The scholarships were established in 1979 to help make amends for the state's history of excluding blacks from the university. (MSE)

The Pennsylvania debate between higher education officials and civil rights activists over how aggressively states should order public colleges to recruit minority students may be a preview of controversy in other states where court-ordered desegregation plans have expired or been removed. (MSE)

A Supreme Court ruling found that federal programs or policies based on race must meet a legal test of strict scrutiny, requiring the program to demonstrate a compelling government interest and be narrowly tailored. Legal experts suggest that few federal affirmative action programs currently meet the standard. (MSE)

This article examines the impact on institutions of higher education, particularly in 19 southern and border states, from the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on how the states must show they have removed vestiges of past segregation. Its impact on affirmative action, admissions criteria, and redistricting are examined. (GLR)

The University of California's decision to end some racial preferences used in admissions and hiring is seen by some as an admission of long-term violations of federal court rulings, and as an effort to stem a voter revolt against affirmative action. The regents' vote on the policy is expected to be close. (MSE)

In a University of Texas-Austin case in which four white applicants to the law school were rejected, a federal judge has upheld the college's right to consider race and ethnicity as admissions factors, but also outlined strict limits on use of affirmative action in assessing applicants, which could pose legal problems for some colleges. (MSE)

A federal court ruling to desegregate Louisiana state colleges and universities would require substantial changes, including creation of a single governing board and system, designation of Louisiana State University as a selective flagship institution, creation of a community college system, reduction of program duplication, and affirmative…

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…