4 Other States Could Be Affected by Desegregation Ruling in Maryland [4 Other States Could Be Affected by Desegregation Ruling in Maryland 1] Morgan State U. is one of four historically black universities in Maryland that may benefit from a court decision on Monday. Even though the judge did not fault the state's budgeting, the universities are likely to see increased appropriations in order to open competitive new programs. Enlarge Image<http://chronicle.com/article/4-Other-States-Could-Be/142217/> [close][4 Other States Could Be Affected by Desegregation Ruling in Maryland 1] Morgan State U. is one of four historically black universities in Maryland that may benefit from a court decision on Monday. Even though the judge did not fault the state's budgeting, the universities are likely to see increased appropriations in order to open competitive new programs. By Eric Kelderman A federal district court's ruling<http://www.lawyerscommittee.org/admin/education/documents/files/Coalition-v-MHEC-memorandum-decision.pdf> on Monday that Maryland has failed to fully desegregate<http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/federal-judge-says-maryland-failed-to-desegregate-its-public-colleges/67477> its public higher-education system is the first significant judicial decision on the topic since 1992, said an expert on the case, and could spur federal action or similar lawsuits in a handful of other states. In her 60-page opinion, Judge Catherine C. Blake of the U.S. District Court in Baltimore concluded that Maryland had allowed a segregated, dual system of higher education to persist by allowing traditionally white colleges to offer many more high-demand degree programs than were allowed at historically black colleges. The effect of that policy, the judge ruled, was that the black colleges had been unable to effectively compete for white students. As a result, she said, the black colleges were more racially segregated now than they were in the 1970s. "I think this is a wake-up call-that the remnants of the formerly segregated system remain in place in the state of Maryland," said Clifton F. Conrad, a professor of higher education at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and an expert consultant for the federal government in numerous cases dealing with issues of race and gender equity in higher education, including the Maryland case. Although Judge Blake did not rule against the state's formula for appropriating money to Maryland's four historically black colleges, they are likely to get much more state money as new academic programs are opened, Mr. Conrad said. The judge "isn't saying there's a problem, per se, with the missions or the funding," he said. "But she is saying that this unnecessary program duplication remains. That's quite a decision." A Mississippi Precedent Presidents of the four historically black colleges-Bowie State, Coppin State, and Morgan State Universities and the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore-responded positively to the decision. A spokeswoman for Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, was quoted in The Sun of Baltimore as saying that the state was still considering its options. The state attorney general's office and the Maryland Higher Education Commission have not issued any response to the ruling, nor have the state's traditionally white institutions. Mr. Conrad also served as an expert witness for the U.S. Department of Justice on the legal precedent cited by Judge Blake-the U.S. Supreme Court's decision<http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/90-1205.ZS.html> in United States v. Fordice. In that case, decided in 1992, the Supreme Court found that Mississippi had not done enough<http://chronicle.com/article/High-Court-Ruling-Transforms/78541/> to eliminate the policies and practices that contributed to persistent segregation in its higher-education system. Since that time, the U.S. Education Department's Office for Civil Rights has worked to eliminate segregation in higher education in several states, including Maryland, which signed an agreement<http://chronicle.com/article/Desegregation-Pacts-Set-in/12190/> in 2000 to overhaul its policies and enhance the stature and competitiveness of the four historically black institutions. When that agreement expired, in 2006, the state reported that it had met its obligations. But a coalition of students and alumni of the black colleges disagreed and filed a lawsuit<http://chronicle.com/article/Group-Sues-Maryland-Alleging/119271/> demanding greater change. Monday's ruling brought closure to that suit unless the state chooses to appeal the decision. Mr. Conrad said four other states, in particular, should be paying attention to the Maryland decision: Florida, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Each of them signed an agreement similar to Maryland's to desegregate its higher-education system, and each has claimed to have met its responsibilities. In addition to the possibility of similar lawsuits, Mr. Conrad said, the ruling may prompt officials in the Office for Civil Rights "to renew their efforts in those states." Higher-education officials in those four states did not have an immediate response to the ruling.