WASHINGTON, D.C. – Although President Obama is an “ardent supporter of HBCUs,” the federal government continues to shortchange HBCUs when it comes to grant funding.
That was one of the key points made Monday by Dr. William Harvey, chairman of the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, at a national conference for historically and predominantly Black campuses.
“President Obama understands and appreciates our value to this nation and to the world,” said Harvey, longstanding president of Hampton University, during a press briefing at the National Press Club titled “The State of America’s Black Colleges: Colleges and Universities that are Built to Last.’”
The event was part of NAFEO’s 38th National Dialogue on Blacks in Higher Education HBCUs & PBIs, a three-day event held under the theme, “Tooting Our Horn a Little Louder!”
“The facts justify his support,” Harvey said of President Obama. “That said, I’m also here to tell you that the state of Black colleges and universities could be and should be better.”
“And let me suggest one area in which we might focus our improvement efforts, and that is the federal government’s engagement to HBCUs just as it is engaged to predominantly White institutions,” Harvey added.
