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Article by Dr. Clara Small, Professor Emerita, Salisbury University  Dr. Earl Stanford Richardson 1943-2025 Earl Stanford Richardson was born on September 25, 1943, to Phillip Richardson, Sr. and Lena Mae Richardson in Westover, Maryland, on the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland, “in one of the most conservative parts of Maryland.” Earl was the youngest of fourteen children born to the couple. He was well aware of racism and segregation as it was practiced in the area, and he was also acutely aware of the George Armwood lynching in Princess Anne in 1933 and those persons responsible for it. Due to segregation, Earl knew that he could not visit nor rent a room at the famous Washington Hotel in Princess Anne, Maryland and other facilities in the area. Blacks could work there, but they could not patronize establishments within the town.  Earl was educated in the public schools of Somerset County, and he readily admitted that he was an average student in high school because at that point in his life, he did not have role models to encourage him to attend college. However, before Earl finished high school, a couple of teachers began to recognize his potential and admonished him that he could do better. One teacher was Mrs. Ethel Cottman, whom he described as one of the best English teachers in the country. A second teacher, Mr. Lester Pollitt, gave him a guiding principle to live by, “Do well and someone will notice it.” Mr. Pollitt impressed Earl as a father figure, teacher, and mentor who helped to mold Earl and his classmates. According to Earl, he was taught “there is always someone greater than you, but if you looked at yourself in the mirror and liked yourself, you will have a great day.” While Earl was still in high school, the Richardson family experienced a major catastrophe that may have destroyed any other family that depended upon agriculture as their means of survival. A spark from an engine in a harvester caught fire and burned all of the family’s soybean crop, and the Richardsons lost everything, from which they never recovered. However, his father remained in farming but as a contractor for groups of “field hands.” Upon graduation from Somerset High School in 1961, Earl did not immediately enroll in college because he did not know what he wanted to do. Two weeks after the local college fall semester had begun, things quickly changed. Earl had picked beans, cucumbers and other vegetables, but he realized that he needed to go to school so that he would not have to work as hard as his parents. Earl made the decision to enroll in college, but he did not realize that his father, a tenant farmer, who only had two weeks of education but was very smart and was very knowledgeable, had used reverse psychology to convince Earl to go to college. Earl’s father told him, “He was going to purchase an extra tractor for him to join him in working in the fields.” The Richardson family was prepared to send Earl to college by obtaining loans and other agreements in order to ensure that he received an education. After a bit of negotiation with the Registrar and then President of the college, Earl was accepted and enrolled in Maryland State College (MSC, now the University of Maryland Eastern Shore). The goal was to make sure Earl received an education. Earl appreciated the sacrifices his parents had made to enroll him in college, so he worked at night at the Texaco Diner at Goose Creek, in the village of Westover, and went to school during the day. He did not live on campus because his parents could not afford it, so he hitchhiked seven miles to school every day. His days consisted of study and work because he did not want to disappoint his parents. Due to his diligence, Earl became an honor student. Unfortunately, his father died at the end of Earl’s first year of college, but Earl did not stop in the pursuit of his career. His parent’s sacrifices and his father’s death spurred him to succeed. He did not deny the impediments to his success, so he invested his total being in achieving his destiny--success.  Earl said he had excellent teachers who encouraged him to succeed. Two of those teachers included Dr. Wilfred Augustus Low and Dr. Mary Fair Burks. Dr. Augustus Low was described as a brilliant social science professor who was most likely the reason Earl majored in the same discipline. He was also the fourth editor of the Journal of Negro History (JNH) from 1970 to 1974, which was one of the first periodicals devoted exclusively to scholarly research on African Americans and the black diaspora. Dr. Low along with scholars of the caliber of Drs. John Hope Franklin, Rayford Logan, Benjamin Quarles, Charles Wesley, Dorothy Porter, Alruthus A. Taylor, Luther Porter Jackson, A. A. Schomburg, Calubert Jones, James Brewer, and a host of others played an important role in getting Afro-American history established as an accepted area of specialization. Dr. Low was such an inspiration to Earl that Low became his father figure upon the death of Earl’s father. Earl was also impressed by Dr. Burks, his English professor, who he described as “The Black Victorian Lady.” Not only did Dr. Burks teach English, but she also fought against injustice. Prior to moving to Princess Anne and Maryland State College, she had been a veteran of the Civil Rights Movement in Montgomery, Alabama, where she had been a member of Dexter Avenue Church under the leadership of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1946, Dr. Burks formed the Women’s Political Council (WPC) as the result of not being admitted to the League of Women Voters and after witnessing racist police practices. She and her group petitioned the city of Montgomery regarding mistreatment on the buses, but to no avail. However, on December 1, 1955, when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, it sparked a bus boycott. Burks, JoAnn Robinson, members of the WPC typed, duplicated and distributed flyers and leaflets, informed the black community, and organized car pools to transport workers for the originally planned one-day bus boycott. The boycott lasted over a year, and blacks walked, carpooled, and hired black-owned taxis and car ser-vices instead of using city buses despite the violence, intimidation and legal pressure exerted by the city of Montgomery. The boycott ended in December of 1956, after the United States Supreme Court ruled Alabama’s segregated bus system was unconstitutional. Dr. Burks and other protest leaders were targeted with the loss of their jobs. Dr. Burks came to Maryland and found employment at Maryland State College. Not only was Dr. Burks a wonderful teacher, but she held tea parties at her home where she entertained her students as they discussed various pieces of literature. She also taught her students proper decorum, proper dress, and social graces, which Earl never forgot in his countless social settings and utilized in his career. With the support and encouragement of professors of the caliber of Drs. Low and Fair Burks, Earl Richardson was assured of success because he had positive role models that did not accept failure.
In 1965, Earl graduated from Maryland State College (MSC) with a Bachelors of Arts degree in social science and was second in his class. He also served as class president from his freshmen year to his junior year. Because it was mandatory for him to be in the Reserved Officers Training Corps (ROTC) at MSC, a land-grant college, he was required to serve in the military upon graduation. He entered military service as a Second Lieutenant, and served in the United States Air Force from 1965-1969 as an officer. He worked for the base commander and could have remained in the service for 30 years, but he did not desire to go to Vietnam. At the time, he had achieved the rank of Captain, but he made the decision to leave the military. When his military obligation ended, Earl Richardson returned to Maryland State College (now the University of Maryland Eastern Shore) in 1969 and worked in Student Affairs. One function of his job was to take students to other colleges and to encourage them to attend graduate school. When he took students on a trip to the University of Pennsylvania, he was asked to apply for admission to graduate school. He applied, was accepted into the graduate program, and became a Ford Foundation Fellow. While there he took an unprecedented number of hours for a graduate student and completed his degree in record time. During his matriculation at the University of Pennsylvania, he went to England, under a program of exchange courses from the University of Michigan at Ypsilanti, during a summer. While at the University of Michigan he enrolled in classes at the University of Reading and traveled to Austria and other countries. At the University of Pennsylvania, he was noticed by his professors, and once he had completed his M.A. in Educational Administration in 1973, he was asked if he wanted to pursue a terminal degree. In order to defray costs, he received a Ford Foundation Fellowship, which provided full tuition, books, and a monthly living stipend, and as a veteran, he was also the recipient of funds from the GI Bill. As a result, he completed his doctorate in three years, in 1976. Not only was Earl a Fellow of the Ford Foundation, but he also completed a fellowship through the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. Over the years, Dr. Richardson conducted extensive research on critical problems in higher education relevant to racial autonomy, desegregation, and integration. He also wrote several articles on the implications of proposals to merge historically black institutions with white institutions and on interinstitutional cooperation in higher education. After completing his doctorate, Dr. Richardson returned to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, as an administrator. In June of 1975, when Dr. William Hytche was offered the position of Acting Chancellor of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, he appointed Dr. Richardson his Executive Assistant, whom Dr. Hytche described as his most valuable appointment. Dr. Hytche was well acquainted with Dr. Richardson because Earl had been one of Dr. Hytche’s former math students, and together they guided UMES through some of its most immediate challenges. Dr. Richardson served in a number of administrative positions at UMES, including Director of Career Planning and Placement and Acting Director of Admissions and Registration. He also taught at the graduate level. Due to his upbringing and experience in a depressed, rural area of the state, Dr. Richardson understood the impediments faced by many students, especially minority students who enrolled in colleges and desired an education. Knowing and understanding those factors made Earl sensitive to the needs of students who may not have tested well on exams or may not have been exemplary students in high school, yet they desired to succeed. Therefore, Dr. Richardson was the ideal person to render assistance to those students, and he made special programs available to them in order to help them excel.  Dr. Richardson left UMES to become Special Executive Assistant to Dr. John Toll, the Chancellor of the University of Maryland System from 1980-1984. While serving as the Special Assistant to the Chancellor, Dr. Richardson served as a member of several system and state committees and task forces: the Task Force on Violence and Extremism from 1981 to 1984; the Hall of Records Commission, 1984 to 2010; the Chair of the Segmental Advisory Committee, State Board of Higher Education from1986 to 1988; a member of the Segmental Advisory Council, Maryland Higher Education Commission, 1988-2010; Advisory Committee on Manufacturing, Department of Economic and Employment Development, from 1992 to 1994. In February 1984, Dr. Richardson was appointed Interim President of Morgan State University (MSU) and on November 1, 1984, he was appoint-ted the 9th President of Morgan and served until June 30, 2010.3 When Dr. Richardson became the President of MSU, “the enrollment was declining, the physical plant deteriorating, the academic programs shrinking, and the institution’s viability was [being] challenged.” Upon taking the helm as President, Dr. Richardson’s vision was to create an environment for students to receive the best education possible. He implemented a Program of Progress, also called an “Era of Progress” for the university, that resulted in… …improved credentials of the faculty, with over ninety percent of the tenure-track faculty holding the terminal degree; thirty-eight new academic programs (fourteen doctorates, fourteen master’s degree and ten bachelor’s degree programs); accreditation and re-accredi- tation of all qualified academic programs; renovation of seventeen living and learning facilities and construction of twelve new facilities and facilities replacements, totaling nearly one-half a billion dollars; over seventy-five percent increase in enrollment, along with a dramatic increase in the SAT scores of entering freshmen; growth of more than one thousand percent in external grants and research fund- ing, reaching a high point of over $30 million; achieving for Morgan high state and national rankings in its production of African-Ameri- can graduates in a broad variety of disciplines; and producing a distinguished body of graduates who have brought attention to the extraordinary legacy of achievement of Morgan-including exceeding all Maryland institutions in the number of African-American gradu- ates, graduating more Fulbright Scholars than any institution of comparable size and mission in the nation… ranking number one among public institutions for the number of African-American graduates who go on to earn the doctorate, and having the Morgan State University Choir ranked by Reader’s Digest as the number one choir in the nation. Faculty Resolution Commending the Eleventh President of Morgan State University, Earl Stanford Richardson, for Twenty-Five Years of Distinguished Achievement and Outstanding Service, August 12, 2009. Under Dr. Richardson’s leadership at Morgan State University, (MSU) many programs were improved, modified, and expanded, and MSU “added baccalaureate programs in civil, electrical and industrial engineering; hospitality management and finance; masters programs in teacher education and engineering; and doctoral programs in engineering, history, mathematics education, science education, bioenvironmental science, and business and public health.” In addition, he adapted many academic programs to schools, namely, School of Engineering; School of Communications; School of Public Health; School of Architecture; School of Computers, Mathematics and Natural Sciences; and School of Social Work. Under his leadership, the campus expansion included the adjacent complexes (the Montebello Complex, the Pentridge Apartments, and a portion of the Northwood Shopping Center), and a satellite Estuarine Research Center in Southern Maryland.7 Another addition included the construction of a new fine arts center, the Carl J. Murphy Fine Arts Center, which was undertaken on the southern portion of campus. Dr. Richardson’s leadership combined with cooperation from the faculty, students and the Board of Regents, enabled him to accomplish the goals he stated in his Program of Progress. As such, Dr. Richardson was credited as having led Morgan State University through a rapid and, at times, a rocky transformation from a liberal arts institution to a modern research university. Former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley also credited Dr. Richardson with leading Morgan to national recognition. In spite of the growth and progress achieved by Dr. Richardson and Morgan State University, it was not an easy task to move forward and to accomplish the goals as set forth in Dr. Richardson’s plan. There were conflicts with the Maryland State Legislature in 2009 as it withheld $3.1 million that had been slated for a new business school, until Morgan agreed to overhaul its procurement processes and convinced legislators that its board of regents provided sufficient oversight. There were also conflicts with other colleges and universities within the University of Maryland System over academic pro-grams. Dr. Richardson argued that the duplication of programs promoted racial segregation. The conflicts began when several programs that had been in place at Morgan and other Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s) for a number of years were approved at white institutions that led to drastic declines in enrollment at the HBCU’s. Despite the conflicts, Morgan State University and Dr. Richardson continued to prevail, and the university prospered because it had an enduring, strong foundation of excellence, achievement, and support within the African American community.  Dr. Earl S. Richardson with President Clinton President Clinton delivered a commencement speech at Morgan State University in 1997 Morgan State University Those conflicts ultimately led to a very publicized disagreement in 2010 that involved Dr. Richardson and MSU. The dispute was over unnecessary program duplications and the disparity of funds allocated to HBCU’s (now known as Historically Black Institutions, or HBI’s) and white institutions (Traditionally White Institutions-TWI’s) by the Maryland State Legislature. Dr. Richardson could not personally sue the state of Maryland or the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) because he was employed by the State, but he was instrumental in organizing the alumni and other concerned groups in forming the Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Maryland Higher Education. In a lawsuit brought by the Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Maryland Higher Education, Inc., et al., against the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC), et al., Dr. Richardson testified that “Morgan State University had been unable to fully execute its mission because of poor financial support from the State of Maryland.” He further testified that Morgan had enormous potential, but it did not have the resources to fulfill its mission. Litigation to correct the disparities was filed in 2006, and the litigants sought an estimated $2.1 billion to make the HBCU’s “comparable and competitive” to traditionally white institutions (TWI’s), such as the University of Maryland College Park, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Salisbury University, and Towson University. During the lawsuit, the Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Maryland Higher Education presented evidence “that Maryland still operated a dual system of higher education in which the State’s Historically Black Institutions (“HBIs”) lack(ed) institutional identifiability beyond race and had only 11 unique, high-demand academic programs compared to 122 at the Traditionally White Institutions (“TWIs”). During the course of the trial, Dr. Richardson testified before the United States House of Representatives in 2008, where he emphasized the mission of HBCU’s. He testified that Black schools educated the most talented Black students but also sought to attract students who did not consider, or thought they could not afford to go to college. He stated, “We can make them the scientists and the engineers and the teachers and the professors-all of those things. But only if we can have our institutions develop to a level of comparability and parity so that we are as competitive as other institutions.” David Burton, one of the plaintiffs in the case, stated that the case was comparable to Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas, the landmark lawsuit that brought about similar issues of disparities in educational opportunities for Black students, but the Maryland case raised the issues for students in higher education. Burton also described Dr. Richardson as the visionary behind the lawsuit and he knew where the skeletons were. At one point, during the trial, state attorneys objected to Dr. Richardson’s presence in the courtroom and even asked the judge to make him leave, even though he had a right to be there as an expert witness. Dr. Richardson also provided historical details about the case because it was a desegregation case. The case also highlighted the funding disparities faced by HBCU’s nationwide and the budget cuts they have faced in recent years.6 In the final analysis, the court ruled that Maryland… …“had never dismantled the de jure era of duplication of programs that facilitated segregation- and it has maintained policies and practices that have even exacerbated the problem. …”The State offered no evidence that it has made any serious effort to address continuing historic duplication and has failed to prevent additional unnecessary program duplication.” …. “Maryland is not prepared to abandon this unconstitutional practice… and through a combination of aggressive litigation tactics and vaporous promises, the State had delayed for a full generation dismantling its unconstitutional system.” As such, “the State’s violation of the Equal Protection Clause continues. Though Maryland has always attempted to minimize the significance of unnecessary program duplication as a traceable vestige, of all the de jure era practices, it is the most inextricably linked to the policy of “separate but equal.”…Acting alone, without another vestige, it acts to steer white students away from Maryland’s HBIs. Because of the State’s policy, the HBIs have fewer white students enrolled now than they had in the 1970s. … Maryland’s deliberate policy of unnecessary program duplication undercut integration at the HBIs.” Joseph Shapiro, “Earl Richardson, an educator ‘armed with history’ and who changed HBCUs, dies, NPR, September 13, 2025, National Public Radio, NPR.org. Memorandum Opinion, at 52. The evidence presented during the trial in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland showed that Maryland was well aware that it had unnecessarily continued to support the duplication of programs that had segregated HBIs. However, it had previously agreed to discontinue the practice as a part of agreements that had been made years before, but the State of Maryland did not follow through on its commitment. In its 1985 Desegregation Agreement, the State promised the HBIs 25 academic programs, but only provided 13. The Court ruled that duplication was worst in Maryland than in Mississippi and as such was a violation of the United States Constitution and must be remedied. In the final analysis, in October of 2013, the Court ruled in favor of Dr. Richardson and The Coalition for Equity and Excellence in Maryland and Higher Education, Inc. The lawsuit began in 2006 and was settled in 2021 when the State of Maryland agreed to give $577 million in supplementary funding over 10 years to the four HBI’s. Dr. Richardson led the 15-year-long lawsuit that ended in a historic settlement for four Black schools in Maryland-Morgan State University, Coppin State, Bowie State, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. It also put the spotlight on funding disparities for all the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities (HBI’s).  Even though Dr. Richardson retired in 2009 after an illustrious career at Morgan State University, as the second longest serving president at MSU, with a tenure that lasted 26 years, he continued to fight for its success and to resolve its many conflicts with the State of Maryland and its many detractors. He retired, but he continued to serve as a consultant and also taught higher administration classes on the campus. Recognition of his commitment to Morgan State University and other HBI’s was quite evident when the Center for HBCU Media Advocacy, Inc. named Dr. Earl Richardson as the recipient of its second annual HBCU Awards Lifetime Achievement’s Trailblazer Award, which was presented to him on April 20, 2012. The award recognized “his tireless advocacy, vision and dedication to national equity for historically black colleges and universities over his more than 35 years in higher education.” In the announcement for the award, it was stated that Dr. Richardson “was a treasure in the state of Maryland, and an icon within African-American history.” Although Dr. Earl Richardson retired in 2009, he had not retired from civic engagement and community organizations. He served on many boards and committees, including the following:
Dr. Richardson was also the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including:
Dr. Earl Richardson was also selected to serve on a U.S. Presidential Board. President William Jefferson Clinton named Dr. Richardson to the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and, in 1998, Dr. Richardson served as the Chairperson of the President’s Board of Advisors of HBCUs during the Clinton Administration. He also received Maryland Senate’s Prestigious Citizenship Award and was recognized by President Barack Obama for Outstanding Service to American Higher Education.
During his career, Dr. Richardson’s affiliation with academic and local organizations was also quite extensive. He was a member of Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society, 1964-65; president of the Board of Directors and member of Somerset County Head Start Program; President of Delta Omicron Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., 1976-1979; President of the Panhellenic Council of the Eastern Shore, 1977-79; and a host of other organizations. Dr. Earl S. Richardson officially retired from the Presidency at Morgan State University in 2010 to assume his distinguished professorship with research in the Robert M. Bell Center for Civil Rights in Higher Education and teaching in the Graduate School of Education. He ultimately resigned from state service in June of 2020. Throughout his career, Dr. Richardson fought valiantly to improve educational levels for all students on local, state and national levels and to specifically advance the cause of Morgan State University and other HBI’s. His vision of educational excellence while advocating equity and parity in the funding of HBCUs was pursued with a vengeance during his presidency. His legacy is that of an extraordinary, very humble, thoughtful, educator determined to make a difference in the lives of others and to provide the most suitable environment for all students to receive the best education possible within the State of Maryland. As such, one of his most enduring legacies is Morgan State University’s state-of-the art, 222,000 sq. ft. library which had been named in his honor in 2008. Sadly, on September 12, 2025, Dr. Earl Stanford Richardson passed into eternal rest. His death was a profound loss to his local community, the region, the State of Maryland and the nation, as he fought to eliminate disparities in education and all facets of life for all people. In reaction to his death, Maryland Governor Wes Moore, offered condolences to Richardson, his family and friends. He stated that “For decades, President Dr. Earl Richardson was a pillar of Maryland and the Morgan State University community. Dr. Richardson dedicated his life to the education of young Marylanders-our home is strong because of his work.” Many others offered similar words of sympathy in his memory. Dr. Richardson’s services were held on September 27, 2025 at the Ella Fitzgerald Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, Maryland. His internment was at Green Acres Memorial Park on West Road, Salisbury. He will be sorely missed.
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