In 2022, a group of students at Florida A&M University, a historically Black educational institution in Tallahassee, filed a lawsuit against the state of Florida, claiming the state had systematically underfunded the HBCU over the past three decades compared to the state’s predominately White public institutions like the University of Florida and Florida State University. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2024 by a federal judge who determined the case did not provide sufficient evidence that the state discriminated against FAMU.
Now the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has revived the lawsuit, ruling that the 2024 decision was made too quickly and did not allow the plaintiffs enough time to present their evidence, according to a report from HBCU Buzz.Â
Notably, this revival is not an official ruling that Florida discriminated against FAMU. Rather, the appeals court has determined the students’ claim requires further investigation before a final decision can be made. The case will now return to the federal district court.
