What it involved was the elementary and secondary education issues. Of
course, the focus of the office had been—the focus of the office had
been in the elementary and secondary education area. And it was in that
period of '69, '70, '71, and '72, where a concerted effort was made to
negotiate successfully in those southern border states, desegregation
plans at the elementary and secondary level. The office was sort of, as
I recall, and I don't want to misrepresent anything but, the issue of
higher education and desegregation was an issue that was sort of—it was
an issue that was raised, as I recall, by the former director of the
Office of Civil Rights and the former administration, after the former
president had lost reelection, and before the new president came in. As
I recall, and I may misstate it, but it's my recollection, a number of
letters were sent out officially citing for noncompliance with Title VI
of the Civil Rights Act in the state higher education systems. This was
a very difficult area. An extremely difficult area to work in. The law
was not sharply defined. The—you did not have—you don't have compulsory
attendance, such as you have in elementary and secondary levels. And the
law, neither the law nor the policies were clearly defined with regard
to the higher education desegregation issue. The mere fact, however,
that those letters had been sent out, prior to the incoming Nixon
administration, putting states on notice, were on the record. And, well,
certain steps were taken in the period of '68 through '72 - '73, on the
issue that the states, the fact that nobody had been brought to the bar
and been cited for non-compliance—or not cited, but Federal funds cut
off, what have you. It was sitting out there and Pratt through it in his
order that you have to—that the office had to undertake certain steps
with regard to higher education desegregation. Those were very difficult
years. The focus of the policies, the focus of the initiatives of the
Office for Civil Rights were not in the higher education area at the
time. They were in the elementary and secondary education area. During
that same period you had Executive Order 11246 that come up, dealing
with employment, affirmative action in employment in higher education.
Federally funded higher education systems throughout the country. So,
much of our higher education divisions responsibilities at the time,
during that period, were devoted primarily to enforce an Executive Order
11-246 of Higher Education Affirmative Action, standards with regard to
higher education employment. Efforts with regard to the dual higher
education systems in the south took a secondary to triciary place, quite
frankly, in our policy priorities.