BALTIMORE — A trial to determine the best way to cure inequality among Maryland’s colleges and universities is underway in federal court in Baltimore.
The decade-old case being heard Monday involves a coalition representing the state’s four historically Black colleges that says the state has underfunded the institutions while developing programs at traditionally White schools that directly compete with and drain prospective students away from the African-American schools.
The trial will determine a remedy.
The judge in 2013 recommended mediation after finding the state had maintained “a dual and segregated education system,” and that its practices were in violation of the Constitution. The judge agreed with the coalition that the state allowed traditionally white schools to replicate those of historically black institutions (HBCUs), thus undermining the African-American schools’ success.
The Coalition for EquiBy and Excellence in Maryland Higher Education has sought remedies from the state that include creating programmatic niches at each of the four HBCUs to attract students. The group proposed either the creation or transfer of roughly 100 programs. For example, the coalition wants to move a computer engineering program from University of Maryland, Baltimore County, to Morgan State University in Baltimore, and to transfer a homeland security program from Towson University to Coppin State University in Baltimore.
During opening statements, Michael Jones, an attorney representing the coalition, told U.S. District Judge Catherine Blake that “important constitutional rights are at stake.”
Cy Smith, a lawyer representing the state schools, balked at the idea that the higher education system is still segregated.
