A federal appeals court ruled Jan. 27 that Mississippi?s $503 million desegregation lawsuit settlement will stand. Jake Ayers Sr. sued in 1975 on behalf of his son, who attended Jackson State University, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. In the suit, Ayers and other African Americans wanted the state of Mississippi to provide more money for improving the three historically African American colleges in the state. In March 2002, a federal judge approved the settlement between the private plaintiffs and the government, but some of the private plaintiffs appealed that decision, saying they were underrepresented. University of Wisconsin education administration professor Clifton Conrad has served as an expert witness for the Department of Justice on cases involving the desegregation of public higher education since 1980. Conrad was also involved in the writing of the settlement for the case brought against Jackson State University. Conrad explained that in 1992, the Supreme Court ruled Mississippi was still segregated. The settlement took 10 years to write, Conrad said. In the end, the government, private plaintiffs and higher education officials agreed on a number. The settlement money will be paid out over a 17-year period. Jackson State, Alcorn State and Mississippi Valley State University will receive settlement money under the decision. Jean Frazier, director of public relations at Jackson State University, illustrated just how crucial the funding will be to the universities. ?Jackson State?s operating budget for this year is $78.68 million, which supports 1,400 faculty and close to 8,000 students,? Frazier said. ?But in the past three years, Mississippi?s state universities have had their funding cut by $100 million. So that presents such a challenge when coupled with racial disparities.? Frazier said the settlement money will be used at Jackson State for the continued development of new programs, such as the School of Engineering. ?Jackson State and two other universities in Mississippi?s state system have engineering schools, and the money is needed for facilities, labs and personnel. We want to build a program that will attract students from Mississippi and across the country,? Frazier said. One of the provisions of the settlement is that three historically African American colleges enroll at least ten percent of their student body a race other than African American. ?I never was in favor of a percentage but I wanted to make it that white students felt welcome,? Conrad said. Frazier said Jackson State currently has plans ?on a broad scale to attract minorities.? Although the settlement took 29 years, both parties emphasized they are happy to see progress being made. ?I would?ve liked to see it go a little further in terms of funding,? Conrad said. ?But the state needs to continue to make significant monetary contributions to these colleges in the future so the plan finds full and continuing support, otherwise it will be a failure from the judgment of history.?