Black Community News News and Commentary for Christians
Buzzfeed reported that President Donald Trump is working on an executive order to support historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). An excerpt (emphasis added):
It’s not clear what the executive order will do, sources with knowledge of the executive order said. But the subject turned to HBCUs when Paris Dennard, a political commentator who works on strategic communications for the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, brought up the future of HBCUs during the meeting.
Trump lavished Dennard with praise for defending him on CNN when the cameras were still on. “Paris has done an amazing job in a very hostile CNN community,” Trump said, deriding CNN as “fake news” he no longer watches. “He’s all by himself — seven people and Paris. I’ll take Paris over the seven,” Trump said to laughter.
When the White House press corps left, the mood changed. Dennard told BuzzFeed News he told the president that he could go down as one of the greatest presidents in modern history, and that his support of HBCUs was badly needed — especially given how HBCUs fared under the previous administration.
HBCU presidents were less than impressed with what Obama did — or didn’t do — to help their schools. The “Ivy League-educated, professorial president has shown scant understanding of the challenges their schools face, and charge he has kept them at arm’s length during his presidency.”
Most HBCUs were established after the Civil War to educate black Americans, as many colleges were closed to them. Some HBCUs are struggling financially (and with accreditation) today, partly because they’re competing for black students with larger and better endowed colleges and universities, which has led to the question of whether HBCUs have outlived their usefulness.
On a related note, Talladega College, the school whose marching band performed in President Trump’s inaugural parade — to much criticism from the anti-Trump crowd — is a designated HBCU.
Photo credit: COD Newsroom (Creative Commons) – Some rights reserved
I think The President should support these schools, with the understanding that they support the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and ALL people’s opinion’s. NOT JUST THE OPINION’S of the far right, or the far left. I also believe that the President should do what he can to make college education affordable to all people. I see universities that spend millions and millions every year to grow their campus, all the while their POS professors grow more and more progressive, to the point they poison the minds of young people. I was of the understanding that people went to the university to learn to think for themselves. We are not black, white, yellow, red, blue, or polka dotted. We are AMERICAN’S. I respect you, and your family, and friends. As long as you do not threaten me, my family and friends. I may not agree with you, but I respect you. I request you respect me. Because, I believe in peace, tranquility, and the pursuit of the AMERICAN dream, whether you are college educated or not. Peace, Love, and Tranquility be with you always.
The HBCUs are an integral part of America’s institutions of higher education. Practically all presidents have provided their wholehearted support for these colleges and universities. Under Obama administration, Pell Grant funding for HBCUs grew from $523 million (2007) to $824 million (2014). His 2017 budget proposed $30 million to help low-income youth enter and graduate from college. Access to higher education is not a partisan issue: President George H.W. Bush was among the early board members of the United Negro College Fund shortly after World War II.