A broad-based coalition of Cheyney University supporters plan to file a federal lawsuit today claiming a history of racial discrimination from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania toward the nation’s oldest Black institution of higher learning.
After nearly a year of negotiations, talks stalled during the summer, according to attorney Michael Coard, a Cheyney alumnus who is among the leaders of the group seeking equity and parity for the HBCU. Cheyney now barely has 1,000 students and is facing mounting budget deficit ― projected to grow to $21 million by next year.
“We began confidential off-the-record negotiations, and the first few months things were going well,” Coard said. “Negotiations broke down and we had no option but to get the state to do what it wouldn’t do voluntarily. Nobody wanted a lawsuit.”
The Coalition, which is named “Heeding Cheyney’s Call,” was formed in 2013 and is modeling its approach after Maryland’s successful litigation against the state for underfunding and neglect of its three HBCUs. The negotiation team includes Dr. Earl S. Richardson, former longtime president of Morgan State University and expert on discrimination in higher education; Attorney Pace J. McConkie, director of the Robert M. Bell Center for Civil Rights in Education; and Attorney Joe H. Tucker, head of the Tucker Law Group, one of the largest African-American law firms on the East Coast. The Coalition includes alumni, students, professors, staffers, retirees, civic and religious leaders, and elected officials.
Of the 14 state institutions overseen by the State System of Higher Education, Cheyney is the only HBCU. Coard says Cheyney has been woefully underfunded and neglected.
“We have been asking for parity through equity,” Coard said. “We want to be on the same playing field as the other 13 universities.”
