For some lawmakers, a bill threatening to end Towson University’s MBA program is a political hot potato that sets a bad precedent. For others, it’s about civil rights. With four days left in the General Assembly’s 90-day session, a House of Delegates subcommittee is trying to craft a compromise.

“Ultimately I want to get a bill passed,” said Del. John Bohanan, D-St. Mary’s, chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee working on the bill. “If we think it’s a fair process, I don’t care if everyone’s happy with it.”

The bill, which passed the Senate a month ago, would require the Maryland Higher Education Commission to review its approval of Towson’s joint MBA program with the University of Baltimore. Morgan State University, a historically black institution, has objected to the new program, saying it contributes to the segregation of students in violation of a long-standing U.S. Department of Justice desegregation order for Maryland’s higher education institutions.

Del. Galen Clagett, D-Frederick, vice chair of the House subcommittee, said the part of the bill allowing parties to seek court action if they disagree with the commission’s ruling might not survive the committee process.

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“We don’t want higher education institutions suing each other,” Clagett said. “The courts have said they don’t have the expertise. The precedent is dangerous … next we’ll have the hospitals suing each other.”

During an informal discussion on the bill Tuesday afternoon, the subcommittee agreed to work on an amendment that would direct Towson and Morgan State to attempt to mediate their dispute privately and continue to a binding arbitration process to settle the issue instead of going to court.

But Del. Rudolph Cane, an Eastern Shore Democrat, said he was not interested in a bill that would steer the disputing parties toward arbitration or other resolution method other than the courts. It was also unclear if arbitration would have enough support in the Senate to pass before the legislative session ends at midnight Monday.

“You’re dealing with customs, you’re dealing with habits [people have] … that’s why there needs to be court action,” said Cane, an African-American who sponsored a similar bill last year that cleared both the House and the Senate. “You bring to arbitration your own background and habits … the background I’ve been exposed to is I wasn’t even human to some people.”

stracy@baltimoreexaminer.com