You would think with the first Black president in our country’s history, there would be more of a lovey-dovey relationship with HBCUs.
Apparently not.
“President Obama was critical of Historically Black Colleges and Universities during a meeting with members of the Congressional Black Caucus this week according to several in attendance. The February 10 meeting was the first group gathering with the Black Caucus and the President since June 2013.”
That’s the lead of Lauren Victoria Burke’s blog post.
The first meeting since 2013? I guess there’s no sense of urgency.
It wasn’t necessarily a closed-door session, but you likely didn’t get in without an invite.
Among those who attended, several told Burke that Obama felt that the focus of HBCUs needs to be on the schools changing their ways of doing business rather than on changes in federal policy. They also told Burke that the president was critical of graduation rates and loan policies. The president then used the opportunity to lobby Congressional Black Caucus members on the free community college plan, which some feel will hurt HBCUs.
