re: .

From 1992 -

JUDGE TELLS LOUISIANA UNIVERSITIES TO CONSOLIDATE

Louisiana's historically black state colleges must swallow their fears of losing their separate identity under a court-ordered plan aimed at wiping out vestiges of segregation, a federal judge says.

U.S. District Judge Charles Schwartz ordered consolidation of the state's 20 public colleges and universities this week."Simply put, the dubious ideal of `separate but equal,' whether endorsed by whites or blacks, is an anachronism that our society no longer tolerates," he said.

The ruling came 18 years after the Justice Department sued to desegregate Louisiana's public colleges and universities more thoroughly.

Schwartz did not close any colleges but gave the state 60 days to disband and consolidate Louisiana's four higher education boards into one "superboard."

Decades after segregation was outlawed, the schools remain largely segregated by tradition.

Southern University and Grambling State, which are predominantly black, objected vehemently to plans to merge the systems after Schwartz imposed a nearly identical order in 1989.

The black schools said they need to remain separate to nurture black students but need extra money to recover from generations of discrimination.

They also objected to Schwartz's designating Louisiana State University the state's flagship university, saying it amounted to official second-rate status for predominantly black schools.

Schwartz also ordered an end to Louisiana's tradition of letting anyone with a high school diploma get into college. The top universities must impose admission standards and abolish remedial classes.