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Three HBCU alumni are suing the Georgia Board of Regents over systemic underfunding of state HBCUs Fort Valley State, Albany State, and Savannah State, per a report by Vanessa McCray of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The federal lawsuit was filed Tuesday and claims that the board redirected resources from HBCUs to enhance academic programs at predominantly white schools. Additionally, it alleges that the buildings at the state's three HBCUs are of inferior quality and that these schools depend more on state funding compared to non-HBCUs. The lawsuit also highlights the absence of graduates from the three HBCUs serving on the Board of Regents. The plaintiffs want the state to remedy the “unequal treatment” of the three state HBCUs.
The lawsuit was announced outside of the Richard B. Russell Federal Building in Atlanta, Georgia. Carlos Moore, an attorney for the Mississippi law firm Cochran Firm, announced the lawsuit and was joined by several of the state's Democratic state representatives.
Moore said during the announcement, “There should not be two systems of education in Georgia. In 2023, we’re still fighting for something as simple as equity, justice, equality.”
The lead plaintiff in the case is Martrice Herrington, a graduate of Fort Valley State University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. She was in attendance at the press conference announcing the lawsuit. In a statement obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, she spoke about the importance of the lawsuit.
“It means a lot. It could help them, help them financially, help them go to a better, beautiful school than it is now, help them grow as a person, help them get a better experience in college. Sometimes you have to speak up for what you want.”
The lawsuit comes on the heels of a letter sent to the Governors of states with land-grant HBCUs last month. Fort Valley State University and the University of Georgia are the two land grant institutions in the state of Georgia. The letter informed Georgia leaders that Fort Valley State would have received an extra $603 million in state funding over the past 30 years if its per-student funding was on par with that of UGA. In response to the letter. the University System of Georgia said that it's working to collect data on the underfunding.
While Georgia is home to three public Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), the study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Agriculture solely focused on funding comparisons for land-grant universities. Savannah State and Albany State do not currently hold the distinction of being land-grant institutions. However, John Moore, an Atlanta-based attorney involved in the case, expressed that as the lawsuit progresses, they anticipate uncovering the extent of underfunding for Albany State and Savannah State.
Georgia State Representative Sandra Scott, a Democrat from Rex, Georgia said in a quote obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the state has a large surplus of funds that “can be used to address these inequalities.”
“It is a chance to right historical wrongs and ensure that every student in Georgia has an equal shot at success.”
