UMES Supporters Sue Maryland for Decades of Systemic Underfunding

A group of students, faculty, and alumni is suing the state of Maryland, seeking billions of dollars in relief for the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore (UMES) based on claims of systemic financial neglect dating back to 1890.

The lawsuit, filed Oct. 26 in U.S. District Court in Maryland, names Governor Wes Moore and several higher education officials within the University System of Maryland and the Maryland Higher Education Commission as defendants. The plaintiffs, a group calling themselves ForUMES, allege the state has “deliberately underfunded” the Princess Anne campus since it became a land-grant institution.

“UMES was supposed to be a separate but equal Land-grant college. Instead, UMES was and continues to be a woefully underfunded stepchild of the University System of Maryland,” the lawsuit claims, according to Maryland Matters. The filing asserts that Maryland intentionally withheld necessary resources, stating, “This lawsuit aims to right this horrible wrong.”

While the litigation seeks to address a century of alleged disparity, the university administration and the governor's office maintain that recent investments show a different trajectory. A spokesperson for the governor said the office cannot comment on active litigation but said that the “Moore-Miller administration’s dedication to supporting University of Maryland, Eastern Shore is unwavering.”

The legacy of the 1890 land-grant mandate

The legal battle is rooted in the complex history of American higher education and the Morrill Act. Originally, the Civil War-era legislation provided federal land to states to fund agricultural colleges, but because Black students were excluded from many of these institutions, the Second Morrill Act of 1890 was passed to establish land-grant colleges specifically for them.

Umes university of maryland eastern shore flickr

UMES, which began as the Delaware Conference Academy in 1886, became a land-grant institution in 1890. This occurred because the state’s primary land-grant school, the University of Maryland, College Park, did not admit Black students at the time. Today, UMES remains one of only 19 historically Black colleges and universities in the country that hold this specific land-grant designation.

The lawsuit argues that the school’s mission—which includes fostering research to drive economic development and growth throughout Maryland—has been hampered by this historical lack of parity. The plaintiffs contend that the state failed to uphold its obligation to provide the resources necessary for the school to thrive as a peer to other land-grant institutions.

The economic stakes for the Lower Shore are high. The group argues that the school’s ability to conduct innovative public impact research is tied directly to its funding levels, which in turn affects the broader economic health of the region.

State budget increases support university funding and new veterinary school

State officials point to recent budget increases as evidence of support. According to state budget documents, funding for a full-time equivalent student rose from $19,640 in fiscal 2022 to more than $26,000 in each of the following three fiscal years.

The University System Board of Regents also recently approved nearly $15 million for the construction and renovation of a new School of Veterinary Medicine on the Eastern Shore campus. This project is notable for several reasons:

It will be the first veterinary school in the state of Maryland.
It will be the first veterinary school at a public historically Black college and university in the United States.
The school has already begun accepting applications for a projected June 2027 opening.

Despite these recent infusions, the ForUMES lawsuit looks past current improvements to the structural deficits of the past 136 years. The tension between current administration policy and historical grievances forms the core of the legal dispute.

Rhyan Lake, a spokesperson for the governor, said in an email that the administration has worked to address an “inherited structural budget deficit” and has committed to investing record funding into UMES as an 1890 Land Grant University.

A spokesperson for the University System of Maryland, Michael Sandler, declined to comment on the matter due to the pending litigation.

A news conference is scheduled in Baltimore this Tuesday to discuss the specifics of the lawsuit.