"Probably one of the happiest days of my professional life was when a second female president was appointed a year later," Merritt recalls. "It was confirmation that I had been okay, that they weren't scared to try a woman again."
Merritt was referring to Dr. Yvonne Kennedy, who became the second female president when she was appointed to the top post at Bishop State Community College. Kennedy, also a state legislator, praised the judge's decision, saying that it verifies "that when you look at the cadre of applicants and the level of the degrees they hold, regardless of the qualifications, in some cases women were not hired."
Renee Culverhouse, the college system's top attorney, said officials have not yet decided whether to appeal the judge's decision but defended the colleges' hiring records. The related consent decrees that set hiring goals for female and Black administrators, she said, have remedied any discrimination, "if, in fact, there was systemic discrimination."
System records show that officials hoped one-fourth of the college presidencies would be held by Blacks in 1996. The actual percentage is 22.6 percent. The system, however, has exceeded its state goal of having 23 percent of all top administrators in the system be African Americans. The actual percentage this year was 23.9 percent.
For women, the system set a goal of having women at the helm of one-fourth of the colleges last year and at half by the year 2005. Only 12.9 percent of the presidents are women now.
"These hiring goals and recruiting and search procedures are in place throughout the system and have been in place for three or more years to avoid problems with discrimination," Culverhouse said.
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