The nation’s oldest historically black university has been fighting to get out from under the thumb of institutional discrimination for decades, and a rally in Harrisburg this week could be Cheyney University’s last chance to break with its troubled history.

“Advocates say decades of discrimination by the state system and foot-dragging on other court cases has left Cheyney in a dire financial situation,” the Daily Local News reported.

Aging lawsuits stemming as far back as 1980 have done little to revive Cheyney’s prospects, and now half of the historically black university’s enrollment has vanished since 2009.

A crowd of 200 voices is echoing that message at the state capitol while the college system defends its per-pupil allocation.

Read more about the dispute and Cheyney’s last chance in the Daily Local News here.