President Joe Biden has declared September 5th through September 11th National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week.
The declaration is a part of the Biden-Harris administration’s promise to continue empowering and providing resources to HBCUs across the country. On Friday, September 3rd, Biden signed an executive order establishing the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Opportunity, and Excellence through HBCUs as a prelude to the week. This initiative will create a government-wide approach to addressing HBCU needs.
The White House Initiative on HBCUs presented the 2021 HBCU Week Conference. It featured various events allowing government agencies, private sector firms, and philanthropic organizations to engage with Black institutions.
Secretary of Education Dr. Miguel Cardona spoke during the first day of the conference, unveiling the president’s plan to propose $239 million in new funding for HBCUs next year, with $72 million reserved as discretionary funding. Cardona shared that Black students owed nearly twice as much in student loans than white students. Though the White House has issued $9.5 billion in debt relief, Cardona says more can be done.
Thursday, Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Cameron Webb held a roundtable discussion to discuss their vaccination efforts. The conversation included student leaders from Norfolk State University, Florida A&M University, Fort Valley State University, and several colleges.
Continuing with the week, Vice President Kamala Harris, an HBCU graduate, visited Hampton University on Friday to tour the STEM education facilities.
During the week honoring historically Black colleges, President Biden also appointed Dr. Tony Allen as the chair of his Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
