The White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) will move from the U.S. Department of Education to the White House, per an executive order on HBCUs signed by President Donald Trump on Tuesday afternoon.
Trump’s order was the culmination of the “HBCU Fly-In,” a two-day convening on Capitol Hill in which approximately 90 HBCU presidents met with the president, senior staff members in the administration, and congressional leaders. HBCU leaders present for the Fly-In represented a sizable majority of the entire HBCU community. There are 101 accredited HBCUs across the United States.
Organizations that advocate for HBCUs on Capitol Hill, such as the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), and the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO), communicated with the administration about the order as it was being crafted. They recommended that the order move the initiative to the White House and that the administration increase federal funding for HBCUs.
While the initiative will move to the White House, the order released on Tuesday does not contain any specific funding directives. Nevertheless, HBCU advocates say that they are cautiously optimistic about working with Congress and the administration to see their priorities met.
According to Johnny C. Taylor, president of TMCF, HBCUs are asking for a $25 billion one-time investment to kick-start much-needed infrastructure development on all HBCU campuses.
While $25 billion may appear to be a big ask, a number of elite institutions have endowments that are the same size or larger, Taylor said. “Put that in context — Harvard University’s endowment is bigger than $25 billion,” he added. The proposed $25 billion would be dispersed among all 101 HBCUs, public and private.
