[4/6/04]LORMAN Mississippi is moving forward in diversity, one of the South’s top education officials said Monday.

Mark Musick, executive director of the Southern Regional Education Board, said if the Ayers case is settled without further appeals, the state could continue taking steps in the right direction.

“It’s not perfect, but I’ll agree that Mississippi is moving forward,” Musick said. “At that point, you put as much behind you as you can and agree on what you can do next.”

The 29-year old lawsuit, filed by Jack Ayers Sr., accused the state of discriminating against historically black colleges. The case was settled in 2002 with $503 million allocated to the state’s three historically black colleges over 20 years to enhance programs leading to more racial diversity on campuses. The settlement was upheld by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in January, and the deadline for Attorney Alvin Chambliss, who has objected to the deal in behalf of the widow of the original plaintiff, to request a U.S. Supreme Court review is the end of this month.

Musick was one of about 300 educators attending the first National Leadership Institute on Muliculturalism at Historical Black Colleges and University on the Alcorn State University campus near Lorman.

“I think on a 10-step journey, the state is in the 2nd or 3rd step,” Musick said. “I feel better about the direction rather than the speed of change.”

After a welcome from ASU president Dr. Clinton Bristow Jr., the first of a series of panels began, with Musick moderating “The Value of Diversity at HBCUs.”

Top education officials from Texas, Georgia and Alabama were among the panelists, including Ricki Garrett, a 12-year board member for Mississippi’s State Institutions of Higher Learning.

Garrett said listening to the other panelists’ successes and failures with desegregation agreements would be helpful in coming years.

Musick suggested looking to other state’s examples, such as Texas, which has a monitoring panel to oversee diversity and desegregation issues, or creating a committee to give semi-annual reports on those issues.

The event was to end after more discussions today.