A Study of the Rita Geier Case: Efforts to Desegregate Three State Universities in Tennessee from 1990-2006.

This study focuses on a 2-phase assessment of the desegregation of selected public postsecondary institutions under the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) [Tennessee State University and University of Memphis] and the University of Tennessee systems [University of Tennessee-Knoxville]. The 1st phase involved obtaining and analyzing the annual reports, court cases, legal journals, articles, and books concerning the 1968 Sanders v. Ellington case (better known as Geier v. Alexander); the 1984 Geier Stipulation of Settlement that mandated a desegregation plan; and the implementation of the 2001 Geier Consent Decree. The study also examines enrollment of black students in selected historically white institutions and white students enrolled in the selected historically black institution for the years 1985 (1 year after the 1984 Geier Stipulation of Settlement) through 2006 (5 years after the Geier Consent Decree and the same year the case was dismissed). The 2nd phase of this study involved interviewing administrators and principal actors responsible for the planning of, implementation of, and compliance with the Geier Stipulation of Settlement of 1984. The study reveals degrees of compliance or noncompliance with the Stipulation of Settlement of 1984 as well as the 2001 Consent Decree and examines more successful and less successful efforts to increase minorities enrolled and employed as faculty staff and administrators on each campus.