A recent ruling in a decade-old case over the lack of investment in Maryland’s historically black colleges shows the state’s troubles with inequity in higher education are far from resolved. Federal judge Catherine C. Blake nixed a proposal by a coalition of alumni from Maryland’s four historically black institutions to merge the University of Baltimore with the state’s largest public HBCU, Morgan State University. The idea is one of three the group put forth to create parity among the state’s public colleges and universities. Blake previously dismissed a call for increased funding, arguing that state appropriations had improved over the years. But in the latest ruling, she supported the coalition’s bid for the creation of academic niches at historically black institutions to make them more competitive.

February 9, 2016 ・ From The Washington Post