LAWSUIT TIMELINE

1954: The U.S. Supreme Court decides in Brown v. Board of Education that segregation in public higher education violates the U.S. Constitution.

1968: Rita Sanders Geier files suit against the state of Tennessee and the U.S. government, charging that Tennessee’s higher education system is segregated. The U.S. Department of Justice joins suit in support of her position.

1972: Ray Richardson, a Tennessee State University faculty member, and others join the suit seeking injunctions to bar discrimination against black students, faculty and staff and criticizing the state’s plan to increase diversity at TSU without increasing diversity in the University of Tennessee system.

1977: Court orders merger of TSU and the former University of Tennessee at Nashville, with Tennessee Board of Regents assigned to control the merger.

1982: Coleman McGinnis, a TSU faculty member and former UT-Nashville faculty member, and others join suit seeking to address grievances regarding the execution of the courtordered merger.

2000: Parties enter into Geier consent decree that calls for scholarships and other initiatives to increase diversity in Tennessee’s public higher education institutions.

2006: Parties request lawsuit dismissal from federal judge after agreeing the state has met all consent decree requirements.