ANNAPOLIS Md.
A measure to allow Morgan State University to take the Maryland Higher Education Commission to court in a dispute over a duplicative MBA program is stirring debate again, a year after it caused contention in the General Assembly.
Opponents say the bill would enable entities in state higher education to sue each other, but supporters argue that Maryland is violating desegregation law and needs the change to bring about compliance.
University System of Maryland Chancellor William Kirwan testified against the bill at a Senate hearing, saying it would open the possibility of delaying educational programs that are needed and potentially create expensive lawsuits in higher education.
“I’m not aware of any state in the union where there is any possibility for one university to sue another just a really, really bad precedent in my mind,” Kirwan said.
Morgan State University President Earl Richardson, who heads the traditionally Black school, testified that the bill isn’t aimed at pitting schools against each other. Instead, he said the measure only seeks to create fairness in education.
“It is about the principle of comparability among all of our public institutions and whether or not they are entitled to the same resources, and their students are entitled to the same quality of facilities and programs and education that they are entitled to elsewhere,” Richardson said.
