Maryland-area Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have just scored a win.
According to our sister site, Blavity, Gov. Larry Hogan has finally signed a bill into law that would award $600 million to the state’s HBCUs. The signing of this bill comes after a protracted legal battle between the HBCUs and the Maryland state legislature.
Gov. Hogan agreed to guarantee $577 million in additional funding for Bowie State, Coppin State, Morgan State University, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore over the course of ten years. The money will be distributed in payments of $57.7 million in extra funding each year for 10 years to each of the state’s four historically Black universities. The money will be used to create and enhance academic programs, bolster its online class offerings, supplement financial aid, build faculty training initiatives, and other academic functions.
“I’m pleased to see this fight has finally come to an end,” said Morgan State President David Wilson, in response to the newly-passed legislation. “Morgan and our other HBCUs have been pulling the weight in this state in terms of creating a Black middle class and we have been doing it without due respect. So, the money is great. We need that, but respect, as well.”
At the crux of the HBCUs argument was the lack of funding. They successfully argued that they were less well-off than their non-HBCU counterparts.
Two years ago, however, Gov. Hogan came under fire because he made what he then called a “final offer” of $200 million to the HBCUs, which many viewed as an insult. Last year, he came under fire again when he vetoed a bill that was nearly identical to the one he signed into law a few days ago.
Despite all this, however, Hogan said that the signing of the bill was “a historic bipartisan measure…a great cooperation between us and the Republicans and the Democrats in the legislature.”
