October 5th 2023.
Tennessee State University, a historically Black university, is owed an astronomical $2 billion in back pay after enduring years of systematic underfunding. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who recently visited the university to speak with staff and students, is leading the pursuit for compensation.
In September, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack sent a letter to 16 states requesting an accounting of the underfunding of several historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) following the Second Morrill Act of 1890, which granted federal land for the establishment of institutions during segregation. This act, however, has not been applied equitably over the years, and HBCUs have been disproportionately affected.
The letter stated that Tennessee State University “would be much stronger and better positioned to serve its students, your state, and the nation if made whole with respect to this funding gap.” A shocking $30 billion has disappeared from eight different HBCUs nationwide between 1997 and 2020 alone, and TSU is owed the most at $2.1 billion in the past three decades. In a town hall meeting on October 3rd, Crump urged the Tennessee governor to take action and address this injustice. He said that “this is really about the lives of Black people in America and trying to understand that there’s a huge wealth gap between Black Americans and white Americans. And education is a great equalizer to bridge that wealth gap.”
The Biden Administration is working hard to address these disparities, yet the failure of the Tennessee legislature to allocate these funds could lead to legal action. This news has left many TSU students and alums feeling outraged. Representative David Scott recently introduced a bill to make scholarships for 1890s Land Grant Colleges permanent, which could give an added boost to the university. With any luck, this will lead to a much-needed resolution for TSU.
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