After Years of Neglect, Maryland HBCUs Get Money But Need More
Over the last several months, Bowie State University President Mickey Burnim has been playing tour guide, inviting members of congress and legislators from Annapolis to his campus, showing them the old, outdated science building, with cramped quarters and bad equipment; and a roof that was leaking until recently. He wants lawmakers to see first-hand what he needs. If half the freshman class wanted to take biology this year, they couldn’t, because there simply isn’t enough lab space. And if students can’t take the prerequisite courses, graduation will be delayed.
But a new science building isn’t in the budget — yet.
Governor Martin O’Malley recently released Maryland’s Fiscal Year 2010 budget; trying to reduce a $2 billion deficit he cut costs across the board. One of the few items in the budget not to take a hit was higher education. While a 2 percent increase sounds small, most every other part of the budget went down by 1.3 percent.
“Any cuts in the budget tend to impact HBCUs and the student population that we serve disproportionately,” says Clinton R. Coleman, Morgan State University spokesperson. “Any cut in the budget really hits us harder.”
