Maryland HBCUs Win Half a Billion Dollars

The Maryland Senate gave bipartisan unanimous support to a bill that awarded four Maryland Historically Black institutions $557 million dollars in compensation for years of institutional racial discrimination, according to the Guardian. The four Maryland Black HBCUs are Morgan State University, Coppin State University, Bowie State University and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. The Maryland House of Delegates passed the bill last week (HB1260) in a near-unanimous vote (129-2). House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones, the first African American and the first woman to hold that position, made it a key part of her legislative agenda in hopes of ending the standoff between the Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Maryland Higher Education and the state according to the Baltimore Sun.

The lawsuit filed over 13-years ago in 2006 by the Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Maryland Higher Education alleges inequitable funding at the state level to Maryland’s four HBCUs. Along with inequitable funding, the suit alleged that the State “deliberately duplicated innovative educational programs created at black universities, luring would-be students to their white counterparts” thus exacerbating the funding issues. Negotiations between the state and the Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Maryland Higher Education reached an impasse after several failed rounds of court-ordered mediation. The coalition, composed of graduates from Maryland’s historically black institutions, proposed a $577 million settlement in September 2019. Former Governor Martin O’Malley had previously offered $40 million. An attorney for Hogan offered $200 million to be divided between the four schools over 10 years. In total there were four failed mediations under two governors since 2013.

The bill now goes to the desk of Republican Maryland Governor Larry Hogan for signature. As the bill was passed with overwhelming support in both the Maryland House and the Senate, it is expected to be signed into law.