Supporters of Maryland’s four historically black colleges plan intense voter outreach and campaigning throughout 2018, to support favorable mediation between the HBCUs and the State as it settles a desegregation lawsuit mandated by a federal judge.
The Baltimore Afro-American Newspaper details the strategy from the ‘HBCU Matters Coalition,’ which seeks to advocate on behalf of HBCU funding and development interests.
Each month, the HBCU Matters Coalition will continue pressuring state lawmakers to act on behalf of the state’s HBCU’s. The Coalition is also working to ensure that five current seats of the Maryland Higher Education Commission are re-appointed to include African-American commissioners.
“We contend all five of those seats need to be re-appointed to look more like the state of Maryland which it presently does not” (Coalition Spokesperson Marvin ‘Doc’) Cheatham said. There are at least four people of color who are currently members (there are 13 members total), of MHEC: Anwer Haan, Sandra Jimenez, Rizwan Siddiqi and Vera Jackson.
