University of Maryland, Eastern Shore backers sue for 136 years of underfunding

Since its founding in 1890, the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore has been underfunded and systemically shortchanged by the state and the university system, say supporters of the historically Black university, who are suing to do something about it.

The group called ForUMES, comprised of students, faculty, alumni and prospective applicants, is seeking billions of dollars in relief for the Princess Anne school in the complaint it filed Oct. 26 in U.S. District Court in Maryland. The suit claims the state has “deliberately underfunded” UMES since it became a land-grant institution in 1890.

The suit names Gov. Wes Moore (D) and several higher education officials with the University System of Maryland and Maryland Higher Education Commission as defendants.

A news conference has been scheduled in Baltimore Tuesday to discuss the laswsuit, and an alumnus of the school declined to comment on the suit Friday.

UMES officials, on the other hand, were happy to talk about their relationship with the state. UMES spokesperson Rudy Williams said Friday the school has a “great relations with the state.”

“We are happy with the support that we’ve gotten from the state,” he said. “We’re looking forward to continued support and good relations with the [Moore] administration and with the state.”

There’s a reason why.

State funding for a full-time equivalent student increased from $19,640 in fiscal 2022 to more than $26,000 in each of the next three fiscal years.

In April, the University System Board of Regents approved nearly $15 million toward renovations and new construction of the Eastern Shore campus’ new School of Veterinary Medicine. The school, which began accepting applications last week for a June 2027 opening, will be the state’s first veterinary school and the first one at a public historically Black college and university in the nation.

But the lawsuit filed by ForUMES looks to the history of the school. Founded in 1886 as the Delaware Conference Academy, the school became a land-grant institution in 1890 to account for the fact that the state’s first land-grant institution was the University of Maryland, College Park, which opened in 1865, did not admit Black students.

“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,” says the suit. “Maryland deliberately underfunded UMES…. This lawsuit aims to right this horrible wrong.”

The Lower Shore school is one of just 19 historically Black colleges and universities in the nation designated as land-grant institutions. Under the Civil War-era Morrill Act, states were given federal land that they were expected to sell it and use the proceeds to fund an agricultural college. The land was often taken from Indigenous tribes. In total, nearly 11 million acres were taken from more than 250 tribes, according to a project published in High Country News.

Because Black Americans were excluded from those institutions, the Second Morrill Act of 1890 was signed into law and established land-grant institutions for Black students.

Part of UMES’ mission, according to the suit, is “fostering research including innovative public impact research, such that UMES research improves lives and has a significant impact on economic development and growth throughout Maryland.”

The school’s supporters have several attorneys representing them including prominent Baltimore attorney William “Billy” Murphy. A representative from his office didn’t return a phone call or email for comment Friday.

A spokesperson for the governor said that while the office “cannot comment on active litigation, the Moore-Miller administration’s dedication to supporting University of Maryland, Eastern Shore is unwavering.” Moore attended the UMES  commencement in May 2025.

“In the wake of an inherited structural budget deficit, the Moore-Miller administration has kept its commitment to our state’s HBCUs – investing record funding for UMES as an 1890 Land Grant University,” said Rhyan Lake, the spokeperson, in an email Friday afternoon. “UMES is a shining example of one of our state’s prize institutions for molding the next generation of minds, and the State will continue to invest in UMES to ensure it has the resources it needs to continue that legacy.”

In an email, University System of Maryland spokesperson Michael Sandler declined comment in an email because of the pending litigation.