Fifty years after the Supreme Court banned segregation in schools, Chancellor Nancy Cantor says the fight for diversity still continues at this University, echoing concerns felt campus-wide.

"There is very little, if any, mixing of races in our lives," Cantor said, adding, "We have to start with recognizing that we have lived and have continued to live in separate lives."

Cantor's remarks came as the University is kicking off its 50th anniversary celebration of the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, stating that segregated schools were inherently unequal.

Cantor spoke Tuesday at a brown bag luncheon at the University YMCA.

Beginning with childhood, many races don't attend the same schools, camps, churches or malls, she said.

"We haven't moved terribly far from the Brown v. Board of Education ruling," Cantor said.

Cantor has supported integration, particularly in higher education, where she fought for affirmative action while provost at the University of Michigan. While Cantor is a staunch supporter of the controversial policy, which some say admits underqualified students, she and others came under fire this year after another Supreme Court ruling.

The Supreme Court's June decision in Grutter v. Bollinger sided with affirmative action supporters, bolstering the idea that affirmative action in higher education promotes diversity and raises the quality of a university.

"Higher education can help us move towards learning to live together by stretching our hearts and expanding our minds," Cantor said. "We need to acknowledge group richness and the importance of culture and race to individuals as they grow."

But black students have had a rough history at the University, said Special Assistant to the Chancellor Clarence Shelley, while speaking before the Central Black Student Union on Tuesday.

Shelley said the University was chartered in 1867, but remained all white until 20 years later when the first black student, Johnathon Rogan, enrolled.

But even in 1944, only 148 black students attended the University, Shelley said.

Then, in 1959, five years after the Brown v. Board decision, the University created its first policy opposing discrimination against race and religion, Shelley said. This policy stated all clubs had to accept members based on skill and qualifications alone. If any organization discriminated on race or religion, it would not be recognized.

The policy did not affect University admissions or the Greek system.

The ground gained by black students required a lot of others to risk their educational careers, Shelley said.

"It is very important to know the history of African Americans on campus," said Victoria Ogunsanya, vice president of the Central Black Student Union. "So many people worked hard and stood up so I could be here today."

But many say the University still has a long way to go. Only 2,000 blacks are currently enrolled at the University, out of a total of 38,000 students on campus, Ogunsanya estimated.

"People need to be more aware of how not diverse our campus is," she said.