Cheyney University Seeks To Renew Discrimination Lawsuit Against Commonwealth

Cheyney University Seeks To Renew Discrimination Lawsuit Against Commonwealth

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — The nation’s oldest African American institution of higher learning is expected to announce on Monday its effort to revive a decades old civil rights lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The suit claims the state discriminates against Black colleges when distributing state funds.

“Cheyney is treated like the step-child when it comes to the state’s 14 institutions,” says Michael Coard, a Philadelphia attorney and 1982 graduate of Cheyney University.

Coard is leading the grassroots effort “Heeding Cheyney’s Call,” which seeks to revive a 1980 lawsuit alleging violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution and numerous other laws. The suit claims the Commonwealth’s state-college funding formula is inequitable because it ties funding to enrollment. Coard claims the method effectively discriminates against black institutions because they tend to be smaller.

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