The Battle Over Historically Black Institutions

The​ decade-long ​legal​ ​struggle​ ​between​ ​Maryland​ ​and​ advocates for ​its historically​ black​ ​​universities​ ​and​ ​​colleges​ ​is​ ​back​ ​in​ ​federal​ ​court. The​ ​HBCU coalition alleges​ ​Maryland​ ​has​ ​underfunded​ ​its​ ​historically​ ​black​ ​institutions and​ ​allowed​ ​other​ ​state​ ​schools​ ​to​ ​duplicate​ ​their​ ​programs, draining​ ​students​ ​away​ ​and keeping HBCUs from achieving racial diversity. “Frankly what happens is that white students will not go to the HBCU. They’ll go to the traditionally white institution if both schools offer the same programs," says our guest, Jon Greenbaum of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. He is one of the lawyers representing the coalition. We hear a different view from commentator Laslo Boyd, former acting state secretary of higher education.