ATLANTA
Clark Atlanta University was justified in its decision to close the school’s engineering department, regardless of whether the faculty and students disagreed with the process, the historically Black college argued last week.
At a hearing in Fulton County Superior Court, Burton Dodd, attorney for Clark Atlanta, asked a judge to dismiss the case, calling the decision unfortunate, but not unlawful.
Superior Court Judge Alice D. Bonner is expected to rule on the motion to dismiss in seven to 10 days.
In October, eight engineering professors and a group of engineering students filed a lawsuit hoping to force the school into another debate about the department’s closing. Clark Atlanta’s board voted in 2003 to eliminate the department, along with four other programs, citing a $7.5 million deficit and a need to concentrate more on other areas of study.
“This is a very difficult decision,” Dodd said. “Clark Atlanta has handled it in a way that best accommodates competing interests.”
Whether the conclusion is the same or not, that department should not be closed without the input of students and professors being heard, said Gina Mangham, who represents the department and students.
