Rep. Frederica S. Wilson wore her trademark cowboy hat when she opened Wednesday’s House Education and Labor Committee's Higher Education and Workforce Investment Subcommittee hearing titled, "Homecoming: The Historical Roots and Continued Contributions of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs.)"
Rep. Frederica Wilson
The hearing was the first to “exclusively examine the state of these vital institutions since 2008,” Wilson said in her opening statement. Witnesses were gathered to testify about the importance and economic necessity of funding HBCUs as the current budget reconciliation bill still waits for congressional approval. The bill, as it stands, offers about $31 billion to fund HBCUs and other minority serving institutions (MSIs).
“HBCUs have been at the very heart of addressing our nation’s long-standing education and racial equity failures,” said Wilson. “For nearly 200 years, they have provided ladders of economic and social mobility and safe havens for generations of Black students.”
Wilson announced plans to file legislation that proposes covering the cost of attendance at any HBCU for students “impacted by the legacy of slavery.” This legislation would be a form of reparations, said Wilson, who added, “I have always felt that the solution must be education.”
Since their creation at the turn of the 19th century, HBCUs have grappled with discriminatory legislation and unequal funding. Endowments at HBCUs are less than one third of endowments at Predominantly White institutions (PWIs), and federal and state funding cuts to higher education in the wake of the Great Recession have disproportionately affected HBCU campuses, heightening their disadvantages.
COVID-19 relief funds presented historic investments of more than $6.5 billion for HBCUs.
