DAYTON, Ohio

The decision by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to close its active Title VI investigation into the state of Ohio's treatment of Central State University (CSU) triggered mixed reactions ranging from praise to sharp criticism in and around the Wilberforce, Ohio campus.

OCR Assistant Secretary Norma V. Cantu notified Ohio Gov. George Voinovich in a February 17 letter that her office had "closed" its investigation into the discrimination case that has spanned two decades. The department had reopened its investigation in March 1997, at the height of legislative threats to merge or shut down the school.

OCR deputy assistant secretary Raymond C. Pierce emphasized the action does not mean the complaint is resolved. OCR will continue to monitor the state of Ohio's efforts to rebuild Central State and incorporate it as a full partner among Ohio's public higher-education institutions, he said.

"There is no determination that the violation has been corrected," Pierce said.

But that statement was met with skepticism among some CSU officials and supporters.

The OCR found in 1981 that Ohio had violated federal civil-rights laws in its funding and treatment of CSU. It concluded that the state's decision to build and enhance Wright State University -- just eleven miles away -- amounted to discrimination against CSU's students and faculty. The complaint was never resolved, and Ohio became the only state among those cited by the OCR during the period to have never submitted a plan to resolve the complaint.

The department's decision to close the investigation appears to remove the threat of an imminent federal lawsuit against the state or efforts to withhold federal money from Ohio colleges.

Cantu told Voinovich the state's efforts so far -- including legislation that funds CSU's operations for the next two years and a "CSU 2000" strategic plan embraced by CSU's board of trustees -- demonstrate the state's commitment to the school.