MD HBCU Advocates Respond to Hogan Veto of Funding Bill for Black Universities
“It is most unfortunate that the state still refuses to acknowledge the order from Federal Judge Catherine Blake to fund unique, high demand academic programs, recruiting, and scholarships in response to the HBCU Coalition representing the extraordinary students, faculty and alumni of the four Maryland HBCUs, and accept full responsibility for the circumstances underlying that order.
Unlike the Kirwan bill, the HBCU funding bill is an attempt to settle a 14 year long lawsuit in which the State of Maryland has been found liable for un-Constitutional, racist and discriminatory practices that created and sustained a separate and unequal higher education system.
By this veto, the governor refuses to resolve this long-standing case and endorses and continues the hostile position which caused it to be filed. And although we are in the midst of a health and economic crisis, we cannot lose sight of the crisis that the four Maryland HBCUs have been forced to ensure for generations.
The unanimous vote in the Senate and near unanimous vote in the House of Delegates during the 2020 legislative session represents the clear will of the people of Maryland to end the unconstitutional dual-system of higher education and to ensure equal educational opportunities for all Marylanders.
The time is now for one higher education system to serve one richly diverse Maryland. The Maryland HBCU Advocates will continue to support the work of the Coalition as it seeks to end the duplication of programs that have resulted in a separate and unequal higher education system in Maryland.
The Maryland HBCU Advocates will continue to pursue all avenues to successfully address a remedy to this longstanding lawsuit and to ensure the continued viability of all four Maryland HBCUs.”
Sharon Y. Blake, spokesperson
Maryland HBCU Advocates