Lincoln University students, alumni sue state over higher education funding

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A group of Lincoln University students and alumni want a federal judge to fix what they claim is decades of underfunding from the state.

Seven people, represented by Calloway Law and the 1890 Project, filed the federal lawsuit against Gov. Mike Kehoe, the state's higher education departments, and University of Missouri System President Mun Choi on Wednesday morning. The group claims the state has not spent the appropriate amount of land-grant matching dollars to Lincoln University, despite doing so for the University of Missouri since the 1980s.

An 1890 federal law required states opening a second land-grant university serving Black students to equally fund them alongside schools accepting only white students. The new lawsuit claims Missouri has fallen short in that regard for many years, possibly costing the Jefferson City-based school more than $300 million.

"Across fiscal years 2000 through 2024, approximately $65.8 million of the match that federal law required was paid by neither the State nor the University," the lawsuit said. "Missouri fully matched the University of Missouri's federal land-grant allocations in every one of those years."

The group adds it is open to a settlement.

"All of us as counsel and as Missourians would rather spend the next year building an appropriate settlement with you than the next five years proving a case that we are ready to prove," attorney Don Calloway said. "We gave the state an opportunity to discuss the allegations, we did not want to have to file suit, but the discussions have, you know, kind of gone away with the state of Missouri via the Attorney General's Office."

Both the governor's and attorney general's offices did not comment on the lawsuit or whether they were interested in a settlement.

Herbert Kitchen graduated from Lincoln University in 1988. He says his experience included poor living conditions. His connection to the university goes back generations. His great-great-grandfather, Civil War serviceman Caleb Lindsay, was an early financial supporter of the school.

"I remember the days at Lincoln University and we did not have hot water in our dormitories, simple hot water, just turn on, hot water should come out, hot water didn't, I remember the days during Missouri's winters when our dorms did not have heat," Lindsay said.

According to court documents, the state provided no state matching funds to Lincoln for the entirety of fiscal years 2000-07. At this time, the required funds increased from around $1.21 million -$5.3 million.

In 2012, the Coordinating Board of Higher Education of the State of Missouri created a performance model for public higher education institutions. The rubric graded schools on student success, degree attainment and quality of student learning. Schools that achieved different traits would receive performance-based funds. Lincoln was unable to qualify.

"The rubric measures Lincoln on retention and completion, which depend upon advising, facilities, student support, which is the very thing that the state degraded through its 40 years of underfunding," Calloway said. "A state may not starve a university for 35 years and then dock its allowance for being hungry."

In fiscal years 2015 and 2016, the state only gave around 18% of the around $7.1 million match, with the school having to fund itself.

"Lincoln covered $43-and-a-half million dollars of the state's obligation out of its own operating budget, and when it could no longer afford to cannibalize its own budget, it sent almost $8 million back to Washington, D.C."

The group also alleges that in fiscal year 2017, the legislature attributed $2 million to match the funds, but then-Gov. Jay Nixon withheld $1 million, resulting in the school only receiving around 24 percent of the expected funds.

Just recently, in fiscal years 2020 and 2021, the state was only able to fulfill a forty-four and forty percent match.

Lincoln alums allegedly also brought up the funding to the legislature and directly to Kehoe through advocacy events, with no changes made.

Students of the school announced shock at the multi-million dollar discrepancy, with several also pointing out facility issues in the school like black mold.

"It was a little hurtful to see that a school with so much history and so much pride and legacy we're getting so like ignored in comparison to other schools," LU sophomore Jayden Ware said.

"We've had previous sightings of black mold in some of the buildings, air conditioning, termites and things need to be looked into and this funding would definitely help to take care of those matters," sophomore Janai Lewis said. "We're not talking down on our cleanliness or what's going on with funding or the food, as of now, we're grateful for what we have and moving forward, I pray that we do receive the money owed to us."

State lawmakers and federal agencies have long demanded and warned the state about the issue. The Secretaries of Agriculture and Education in 2023 under President Joe Biden sent Missouri and several other states a letter about the "$12 billion disparity in funding between land-grant Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and their non-HBCU land-grant peers in their states." State lawmakers that year also demanded the state spend money to fix some of those gaps.

The lawsuit said those going to Lincoln University suffered from the funding situation, including the campus's deferred maintenance and loss of scholarships.

The group is asking the state to admit they failed to match funds for the school, compensate the plaintiffs in the case as well as put the owed money in the "Lincoln University Remedial Fund." The group is also asking the state to correctly match funds going into the future.

The fund is expected to help cover various expenses for the school. This includes scholarships and helping fill gaps for students who may be behind on payments.

"We do believe that a remedial fund, some of it will be dedicated to student aid going forward and it will not all go to the physical plant or extension programming and academic programming," Calloway said. "We look forward to, as a resolution, creating a community of stakeholders.

"I would put it towards like more shuttles because right now we only have one. So to run it like every so hour or so, I fly with more shuttles or any more people can actually like go grab their stuff and they don't have a car on campus and also also put their money towards like extra curricular activities like theater club, debate club or something like that.

"I would really like to see it go towards the amenities so students are living more comfortably, or like there would be more resources for us to go to," Ware said. "I just would like to see it go to faculty and staff."

"I would put it towards like, more shuttles because right now we only have one," Lincoln University sophomore Jeremiah Allen said. "Also put their money towards extracurricular activities like theater club, debate club or something like that."