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)

A federal appeals court ordered new trials on whether curriculum at Alabama's predominantly white colleges discriminates against blacks by lacking content on black thought and history, and whether much of the state land-grant program should be shifted from Auburn University to Alabama A&M, a historically black institution. (MSE)

A federal district judge ruled that state officials failed to demonstrate the need to close Mississippi Valley State University and merge Mississippi University for Women with Mississippi State University to meet desegregation requirements. He ordered Mississippi to provide additional funds to two other black colleges, and approved a state plan…