Memphis attorney and politician Otis Higgs was employed to conduct an evaluation of race relations at UT during the summer of 1980. Higgs indicated to the Daily Beacon that his charge included “the specific issue of why Dennie Littlejohn was removed as Director of the Black Cultural Center and making general recommendations concerning race relations with black students and the rest of the Knoxville community.” Higgs added that he would then “formulate recommendations and a form of action.” The African American Student Liberation Force, while expressing respect for Higgs, viewed his hiring as an attempt by UT to “fabricate an image of concern for the welfare of black people.”