The presidents of Maryland’s four historically Black universities — Morgan State, Coppin State, Bowie State and the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore — are crafting plans for the $577 million in extra funding coming from the state in the next decade. The money, they say, will pay for scholarships, help fund high-demand programs in science, technology, engineering and math fields and free up financing for much-needed infrastructure repairs.
Maryland’s General Assembly voted last month to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into the universities starting in 2022, settling a 15-year-old federal lawsuit waged by advocates of the historically Black institutions.
Alumni and boosters of Morgan State first filed the suit against the state in 2006, arguing that years of underfunding had starved the institutions of advantages enjoyed by the state’s predominantly white universities.
Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, signed the legislation at Bowie State last month and lawyers finalized the agreement last week.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Lillian Reed over at The Baltimore Sun
