Earl Richardson, an educator 'armed with history' and who changed HBCUs, dies

"Earl Richardson was a Black college president "armed with history," as a colleague described him when he led a 15-year-long lawsuit that ended in a historic settlement for four Black schools in Maryland and put a spotlight on funding disparities for all of the nation's historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs)."

"It was settled in 2021 when the state of Maryland agreed to give $577 million in supplemental funding over 10 years to four HBCUs. Richardson led Morgan State from 1984 to 2010 and he had long chafed at stretching the little funding he got from the state. In the lawsuit, plaintiffs argued that Maryland had historically underfunded its Black colleges and had put them at a disadvantage by starting and boosting similar programs at nearby majority-white schools. David Burton, one of the plaintiffs, told NPR that the case was compared to Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark lawsuit that brought up similar issues of disparities in educational opportunities for Black students, but the Maryland case raised the issues for students in higher education."

"In 1990, when Richardson was a new school president, students took over the administration building for six days to protest the school's dilapidated classrooms and dorms, with roofs that leaked and science labs stocked with outdated equipment. Edwin Johnson was one of those student protesters. "We originally were protesting against Morgan's administration," he said. "But then after we dig and do a little research, we find out it's not our administration, but it's the governor down in Annapolis that isn't equipping the administration with what they need to appropriately run the school." The protest ended when the students marched 34 miles to Annapolis to demand a meeti"

Earl Richardson led Morgan State University from 1984 to 2010 and helped organize a lawsuit that began in 2006 challenging Maryland's treatment of its historically Black colleges. The case argued that Maryland had historically underfunded its Black colleges and disadvantaged them by creating similar programs at majority-white institutions. The lawsuit was settled in 2021 with the state agreeing to provide $577 million in supplemental funding over ten years to four HBCUs. Student activism in 1990 exposed campus deterioration and directed blame toward state funding decisions. Richardson died at 81; his leadership culminated in a landmark settlement addressing higher-education disparities.

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