Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
With the fight over funding for Maryland’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities due to end in two months, HBCU professors and students are touting the value and benefits of equalizing resources – students and programs as well as money.
“Most people see HBCUs as an ‘interest group,’” said William Talley, chairman of the Department of Rehabilitation at the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore. “Such people forget the genesis of HBCUs.”
In 2006, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of Maryland’s four historically black colleges – Morgan State, Coppin State, Bowie State, and the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore. The state is accused of promoting segregation by allowing predominately white schools in the University System of Maryland to duplicate programs and courses already offered at Black colleges. Some describe the case as the most important higher education desegregation case in decades.
In 2013, a court ruling did find that Maryland’s actions indeed perpetuated segregation. A panel of judges on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals set April 30 as the deadline to work out a settlement. The date recently was changed to July 29. Settlement of the case, some officials said, could reshape higher education in Maryland.
Talley explained: “Most HBCUs were founded during the Jim Crow era, at a time when black students were not accepted at predominately white institutions (PWI). Prior to the abolition of slavery, blacks seen on the campus of let’s say Harvard University or Georgetown University were there as slaves, not as students.”
African-American students at these elite schools were in the service of their masters who were students, Talley said, adding that white students were allowed to obtain an education literally on the backs of enslaved blacks. Institutions of higher education for African American students were created to give black students an equal educational opportunity after the Civil war.
“Lack of funding affects not only the physical plant of the campus, it also affects salaries and the way research is conducted,” Talley said. “Often ideas are generated at an HBCU, only to be later recuperated by a PWI, which enjoys far more funding and is, therefore, able to better implement relevant programs.”
The Morrill Act of 1890 was established to require states to provide grants to colleges that serve African American students, while allowing HBCUs to build their own campuses. Before this act, history shows that HBCU classes were conducted in churches, homes, and old schoolhouses.
In February, Gov. Larry Hogan met with state legislators to discuss a settlement, noting that he was “open to spending as much as $100 million to settle the lawsuit.” However, Maryland state lawyers agreed to only spend $50 million.
Del. Darryl Barnes, a Prince George’s County Democrat who chairs the Black Caucus, reported that the meeting in February took place to focus on the settlement on the lawsuit that is beneficial to others. The amount of money HBCUs will get is uncertain, Barnes said.
“HBCUs experienced a 15 percent reduction in federal funding,” said Sephocle. “The reality of HBCUs is that they not only graduate the largest class of black doctors, lawyers, engineers and professionals of all sorts, they also provide a highly nurturing environment where the black student is valued, is taught to appreciate the contributions of blacks and other minorities to the fabric of American society.”
Sephocle added, “I do think that any funding increase to any HBCU should go directly to programs, to students in need of financial aid, to faculty research, to endowed chairs, to physical plant including enhanced technology.”
Laura Dorsey-Elson, a professor at Morgan State University, said she joined many rallies, signed petitions and attended many court hearings on the lawsuit. Her main gripe, she said, are “program duplications of PWIs and the loss of state funding.”
“I just want the same materials, funding for organizations on campus and number of staff as a PWI have,” said Alina Mothie a freshman at Morgan State. “Especially staff-to-student ratios in HBCUs can be improved to make administration and classes run easier. However, if we are not going to get the same amount of funding how can we pay to hire more professors and staff.”
The lack of funding creates obstacles for professors who are trying to serve students and develop professionally, some officials said.
“However, faculty members are usually paid lower at HBCUs than at PWI and produce more in the form of counseling, mentoring, tutoring not to mention holding endless office hours,” said Sephocle. “They often have to do more with far less.”
The reality of HBCUs is that most African-American alumni are recognized worldwide, including Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, filmmaker Spike Lee, author Toni Morrison, actor Samuel L. Jackson, actress Taraji P. Henson, author Ta-Nehisi Coates and Dr. Charles Richard Drew. While professors, students and others wait on the settlement of the lawsuit, some activists have taken to social media and community events to promote support for higher education at black schools.
“I am frustrated but grateful for the national interest in marginalized groups, such as #BlackLivesMatter, but frustration is only half the game, now let’s get to work,” said Dorsey-Elson.