State Assembly Passes Bill Authorizing $577 Million in Relief for the State’s HBCUs
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and Kirkland & Ellis LLP, counsel for plaintiffs in the Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Maryland Higher Education vs. MHEC, issued the following statement regarding the Maryland General Assembly’s passage (45-0) of HB1260:
"We
applaud the two houses of the Maryland General Assembly for passing
landmark legislation intended to settle the constitutional violation
found by Judge Catherine C. Blake in the long-running HBCU litigation.
We are hopeful that the Governor will sign the bill and we can work
with Attorney General Frosh in finalizing a settlement."
Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law,
said: "This is truly historic. The legislation passed by the Maryland
General Assembly was unanimous, veto-proof and moves us closer to
finalizing a resolution to our long, protracted battle against the state
of Maryland regarding its inequitable and unconstitutional treatment of
the state's HBCUs. We applaud lawmakers for putting in place
bi-partisan legislation that can bring overdue relief for HBCUs in
Maryland."
Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Maryland Higher Education vs. MHEC
is one of the most significant higher education desegregation cases in
the last two decades. Maryland was found to have violated the
constitution by failing to enable Maryland’s four Historically Black
Institutions (HBIs) to develop unique and high-demand programs that are
able to attract students of all races. Only 1.4 percent of white
students in Maryland higher education go to the HBIs. The State was
ordered to remedy
the lack of investment in the State’s historically black colleges and
universities, in an effort to resolve this decade-old lawsuit over
inequality in public higher education.
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