Pact Would End College Race Quotas

State officials have reached a tentative agreement that would eliminate racial quotas at Tennessee’s public colleges and universities and end a 32-year legal battle over desegregation. If approved by a federal judge next month, the agreement would replace quotas with a series of steps to increase diversity, such as improving funding for historically black Tennessee State University in Nashville. The plan “brings finality to a lawsuit that has plagued higher education for a generation,” Gov. Don Sundquist said. More than 220,000 students at 10 four-year colleges and numerous community colleges and technical schools would be affected by the agreement between the state and the plaintiffs, including the U.S. Justice Department.