Britney Denton v. Board of Governors for the State University System

── Britney Denton v. Board of Governors for the State University System ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Date: June 09, 2026 Category: NEW USCA11 Case: 24-10567 Document: 80-1 Date Filed: 06/09/2026 Page: 1 of 78 NOT FOR PUBLICATION In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 24-10567 ____________________ BRITNEY DENTON, NYABI STEVENS, DEIDRICK DANSBY, FAYERACHEL PETERSON, ALEXANDER HARRIS, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, versus BOARD OF GOVERNORS FOR THE STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OF FLORIDA, STATE OF FLORIDA, STATE OF FLORIDA, COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION, RAYMOND RODRIGUES, BRIAN LAMB, et al., Defendants-Appellees, MARSHALL M CRISER, III, et al., USCA11 Case: 24-10567 Document: 80-1 Date Filed: 06/09/2026 Page: 2 of 78 2 Opinion of the Court 24-10567 Defendants. ____________________ Appeals from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 4:22-cv-00341-RH-MAF ____________________ Before ROSENBAUM, BRANCH, and KIDD, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: This case asks whether the administrators of Florida’s only historically Black college or university (“HBCU”) violated federal law through (1) chronically underfunding the university and (2) of- fering fewer unique, high-demand programs at the HBCU, versus its historically white peer institutions. That HBCU is Florida Agri- cultural and Mechanical University (“FAMU”). Several current FAMU students brought this putative class action, alleging that the Florida State University System’s treatment of FAMU violated Ti- tle VI, the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, and United States v. Fordice, 505 U.S. 717 (1992). When the school administrators moved to dismiss, the dis- trict court denied the motion on standing grounds, but the court granted the motion for failure to state a claim. We agree with the district court’s thoughtful standing analysis. But we conclude that the court misapplied the Rule 12(b)(6) standard of review—credit- ing the administrators’ version of events over the students’ well- pled allegations, and looking beyond the four corners of the com- plaint to disputed extrinsic materials. Of course, nothing in this USCA11 Case: 24-10567 Document: 80-1 Date Filed: 06/09/2026 Page: 3 of 78 24-10567 Opinion of the Court 3 opinion reflects any view on the underlying merits of the students’ claims. But as alleged, those claims should’ve survived the motion- to-dismiss stage. For those reasons, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and re- mand for further proceedings. I. BACKGROUND Current FAMU students Britney Denton, Nyabi Stevens, Deidrick Dansby, Fayerachel Peterson, Alexander Harris, and Jac- ari Hester (collectively, the “Students”) alleged that Defendants vi- olated federal law by maintaining a segregated system of higher ed- ucation at FAMU, Florida’s only HBCU. The Students, who are Black, brought this putative class action on behalf of “all Black stu- dents at FAMU at any time during the 2021/2022 school year through the date of class certification.” Defendants include