In response to Civil Rights protests in the Southern United States, groups in the Boston suburbs (such as fair housing advocates, civil rights committees, the League of Women Voters, churches, and members of School Committees) began to conceive of programs to enroll Black students allowed under the Racial Imbalance Act. A group led by MIT Professor Dr. Leon Trilling (Chair of Brookline’s School Committee) presented what they called the METCO initiative to Ruth Batson, now the director of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. She agreed to support the program as Associate Director alongside Joseph Killory, taking a leave from the Massachusetts Department of Education, as Executive Director.