Presidents of the nation’s 106 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are set this weekend for a dialogue on the impact of this year’s elections, one that will include an emissary of President-elect Donald Trump.
Leaders across the higher education landscape are scrambling to figure what role higher education will play in the next administration and how it will deal with higher education issues.
“This is a good signal,” says Lezli Baskerville, president and chief executive officer of the Washington-based National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education, speaking of the expected participation of Omarosa Manigault — a senior adviser to Trump — in NAFEO’s annual Presidents and Chancellors Brunch Briefing.
The brunch is set for Sunday at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis Hotel in Atlanta.
The brunch, held in conjunction with the fall meeting of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, this year focuses on the impact of last month’s national elections on NAFEO institutions and communities.
In addition to Manigault, who is widely known as a contestant on the first season of Trump’s The Apprentice television show and a professor at Howard University, other participants will include Elroy Sailor, co-founder and managing partner of JC Watts and Associates, and Jose Minaya, a senior managing director and president of TIAA Global Real Assets.
The Watts firm has represented several HBCUs over the years in their pursuits of Washington relations, says Baskerville. TIAA is one of the nation’s largest financial resources for educators, she said, in offering ideas of the breadth of the brunch participants’ viewpoints on the impact of last month’s elections.
