Friday, August 18, 2023

AG: Contested commission vote on new Towson Ph.D. degree program is of ‘no legal effect’ after procedural errors | William J. Ford

  • Morgan State University, which has offered the Ph.D. program since 2001, was just one of four historically Black colleges or universities that sued MHEC in part because of program duplication that caused demonstrable harm.  That lawsuit, which also addressed funding inequity between Maryland’s predominantly White institutions and HBCUs, was settled only two years ago. After a 15-year battle, the state’s four HBCUs walked away with an agreement to receive $577 million in general funds over a 10-year period. Alexis Taylor/The Afro.
  • Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown’s office said Thursday that the decision in April by Emily A. A. Dow, the higher education commission’s assistant secretary for academic affairs, to reject the program still stands, as there were not enough votes for the Towson approval to pass. “From a legal standpoint, it is as if the Commission had not yet voted at all,” wrote Patrick B. Hughes, the office’s chief counsel for opinions and advice. “… the Commission is likely required to meet again to attempt to reach a decision, one way or the other, with the necessary number of votes.” Sabrina LaBoeuf/The Baltimore Sun.

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