Opinion
Maryland Trial Shows College Segregation
A
fter six weeks of testimo-
ny, a major trial to deter-
mine
whether
Maryland’s four historically
Black colleges and universities
(HBCUs) have been routinely
denied funding and other needed
resources that would have made
them “comparable and competi-
tive” with White universities in
the state is expected to end this
week, with a ruling expected by
this summer.
The overwhelming majority of
HBCUs, originally established
shortly after the Civil War to pre-
vent African-Americans from
attending all-White state universi-
ties, are located in the South. The
Maryland case (Coalition for
Equity and Excellence in Mary-
land Higher Education, Inc., v.
Maryland Higher Education
Commission, et al.) has attracted
national attention, in part,
because it involves a border state
that, like the South, operated a
rigidly segregated school system,
but unlike the South, has largely
escaped intense public scrutiny.
U.S. District Judge Catherine C.
Blake presided over the non-jury
T HE C URRY
R EPORT
George E.
Curry
nity-based group comprised of
alumni of public HBCUs in
Maryland and other interested
parties. It is seeking approximate-
ly $2.1 billion to upgrade the four
state HBCUs: Morgan State Uni-
versity, Bowie State University,
Coppin State University and the
University of Maryland-Eastern
Shore.
Named as major defendants are
officials of the University of
Maryland Higher Education
Commission,
Gov.
Martin
O’Malley and Secretary of High-
er Education James E. Lyons, Sr.
The state of Maryland’s higher
education system has a long his-
tory of racial segregation, accord-
ing to witnesses and court
documents.
There continues to be substantial
differences – severe differences – in
terms of the number of programs
and the quality of programs
trial in Baltimore. The lead attor-
ney for the plaintiffs was Jon
Greenbaum of the Lawyers’
Committee for Civil Rights
Under Law. Pro bono work was
provided by lawyers from Kirk-
land & Ellis law firm and the
Howard University School of
Law Civil Rights Clinic.
The suit was originally filed in
2006 by the Coalition for Equity
and Excellence in Maryland
Higher Education, Inc., a commu-
“Throughout its history, Mary-
land has systematically engaged
in policies and practices that
established and perpetuated a
racially segregated system of
higher education,” the suit
asserts. “Maryland first instituted
its system of public higher educa-
tion in 1807 by establishing the
University of Maryland at Balti-
more. This was a White-only
institution.
“Maryland subsequently estab-
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lished four other White-only, pub-
lic institutions of higher education:
the University of Maryland, estab-
lished in 1865; Towson University,
established in 1866, Frostburgh
State University, established in
1898; and Salisbury State Univer-
sity, established in 1922,” the suit
continued. “The state began its
dual-system by assuming control
of The Baltimore Normal School,
an all Black teacher’s school now
known as Bowie State
University. This was the
beginning of Maryland’s
segregated system of
higher education.”
Maryland was forced
to expand educational
opportunities for Blacks
in order to qualify for
federal land-grant funds.
That led to the state also
acquiring what is now
the University of Maryland-East-
ern Shore, Morgan State Universi-
ty and adding Coppin State
University in 1950.
In 1954, the United States
Supreme Court issued its Brown v.
Board of Education ruling, holding
that segregated school systems
violated the Equal Protection
Clause of the 14th Amendment.
“Following Brown, Maryland did
nothing more than lift the rule
excluding Black students from
White schools,” the lawsuit
recounts.
After passage of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964, the state ended de
jure segregation, opening the
doors for African-Americans to
attend all-White public universi-
ties.
“In 1965, however, rather than
encourage integration at Morgan
State, Maryland established Uni-
versity of Maryland Baltimore
County (“UMBC”). UMBC was a
complete duplication of Morgan
State’s entire institution, not just
its programs,” the lawsuit stated.
In 1969, the Department of Edu-
cation’s Office of Civil Rights
notified the state of Maryland that
it was one of 10 states operating a
racially segregated system of high-
er education in violation of Title
VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
offering by Morgan State. Salis-
bury University was permitted to
offer a computer science degree
that was already being offered by
University of Maryland-Eastern
Shore. Especially controversial
was the decision made by the state
in 2005 to allow Towson Universi-
ty and the University of Baltimore
to operate a joint Masters in Busi-
ness Administration program,
which had been offered by Morgan
State since 1964. Overall,
more than a half dozen pro-
grams at TWIs duplicated
programs already in exis-
tence
at
Maryland’s
HBCUs.
Testifying as an expert
witness, University of Wis-
consin Education Professor
Clifton F. Conrad said that
the state of Maryland still
operates a segregated higher
education system.
“The dual education systems
remain,” he testified. “There con-
tinues to be substantial differences
– severe differences – in terms of
the number of programs and the
quality of programs. Those stu-
dents who enter Maryland’s histor-
ically Black institutions – whether
Black, White, or other races – do
not have an equal educational
opportunity as those students who
attend the state’s traditionally
White institutions.”
The state of Maryland’s
higher education system
has a long history of racial
segregation
Two decades later, the only two
states in the group still in noncom-
pliance were Maryland and Mis-
sissippi.
Facing the possibility of losing
all federal education funds, Mary-
land reached agreements with the
U.S. Department of Education in
1982 and again in 1985. The later
called for “the enhancement of
HBCUs to ensure that they are
comparable and competitive with
TWIs [traditionally White institu-
tions] with respect to capital facil-
ities, operating budgets and new
academic programs.”
A major component of the plan
to strengthen HBCs and encourage
more Whites to attend them called
for the avoiding program duplica-
tion at nearby White universities.
However, Maryland allowed the
creation of an engineering pro-
gram at UMBC that duplicated an
George E. Curry, former editor-
in-chief of Emerge magazine and
the NNPA News Service, is a
keynote speaker, moderator, and
media coach.
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February 8, 2012 The Seattle Skanner Page 5