Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has settled a 15-year-old federal discrimination lawsuit. The bill will give $577 million over the next ten years to the state’s four HBCUs — Bowie State University, Coppin State University, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Morgan State University.
Hogan had previously vetoed a similar bill, attributing his decision to the economic issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. He will sign the bill Wednesday afternoon, alongside lawmakers, at Bowie State University. Payments in regard to this settlement, however, will not begin until 2023.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2006 by the NAACP. HBCUs claimed that they were being underfunded while the state continued to develop programs at traditionally white schools, causing students to prefer to attend the latter. This lack of funding, they argued, made it difficult for the HBCUs to compete with the other predominantly white schools in the state.
A federal judge said in 2013 that the state had maintained “a dual and segregated education system,” and therefore violated the Constitution. Although the provisions of the measure are contingent on a final decision and settlement, which will be known on June 1, leading attorney for the HBCUs, Michael Jones, told The Associated Press he doesn’t anticipate any problems once the settlement measure becomes law. Jones has been working on the measure for 12 years.
“It’s one of the largest pro bono civil rights settlements in history, and it is the only case of its kind that had a settlement that went around the governor and directly to the legislators,” Jones said.
The $577 million would go toward scholarships, financial support services, faculty recruitment and development, the expansion and improvement of existing academic programs and the implementation of new ones.
