The "Adams" case, which has resulted in a court-ordered mandate, marks the first attempt to utilize the principles established in the Brown decision for public higher education. The mandate, which calls for southern and border States to eliminate the vestiges of racial dualism by desegregating their systems of public higher education, dispels the notion that this nation's public colleges and universities were desegregated long ago or that black and white colleges have been received as full partners in the delivery of educational services within State systems of higher education. In addition, criteria prepared by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare for implementing the mandate represent the most comprehensive attempt to date by the Federal Government to provide specific guidelines for desegregating institutions of higher education. Although weaknesses exist in the criteria and specific considerations must be dealt with by the States involved if the intended outcomes are to become realities, the "Adams" mandate, if implemented and supported, will go a long way toward promoting the elimination of inequities which have worked against the achievement of social justice for blacks and other minorities. (Author/EB)