HBCU News, Commentary and Information
Monday
May 2013
COMMENTS
Written by HBCU Digest, Posted in Editorial, Morehouse College
As originally published in the Huffington Post
President Barack Obama visited Morehouse College on a rainy Sunday afternoon to give a refrain on the responsibility of Morehouse Men and black America to find dignity and progress in self-reliance, a refrain that has simultaneously proven exciting and excruciating for African Americans over the last four years.
Monday
May 2013
COMMENTS
Written by HBCU Digest, Posted in Editorial, Morehouse College
President Barack Obama’s Morehouse commencement speech offered encouragement and tied back to historical leaders. But, the president also did some of that thing he does. That “pull yourselves up by your bootstraps, brothers” rhetoric he employs before black audiences. A refrain in the Morehouse address was “no excuses.”
“We’ve got no time for excuses – not because the bitter legacies of slavery and segregation have vanished entirely; they haven’t. Not because racism and discrimination no longer exist; that’s still out there.”
Saturday
February 2013
COMMENTS
Written by HBCU Digest, Posted in Georgia, Leadership, Morehouse College, Politics
So says the official Morehouse Twitter account…
Pres John Wilson just announced during the a candle in the dark gala the 2013 Morehouse commencement speaker – Pres Barack Obama!!
— Morehouse College (@Morehouse) February 17, 2013
And so does the Atlanta Journal-Constitution…
Wilson has been on the job as Morehouse’s president for just three weeks. Previously he was the executive director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Wilson said he did not lobby for the presidential visit and received the call from the White House not long after he started at Morehouse in late January.
Monday
January 2013
COMMENTS
Written by HBCU Digest, Posted in Politics
Since 2009, the Obama White House has created a masterful surface impression of support for black colleges. First Lady Michelle Obama keynoted several HBCU commencements. Black colleges were the site of multiple community dialogues and forums engaging black communities about policy concerns. And HBCUs were critical battleground state rallying stops and fundraising sites in the weeks and months leading up to the election.
But when the glow of President Barack Obama’s second inauguration dims, the lobbying will begin for the president’s attention to control guns and climate control, and to reform immigration and our economic rules of engagement. Education, in spots and flashes, will appear on the nation’s radar for discussion whenever the next startling report on secondary achievement, degree completion or affordability is published.
And because higher education occupies little space within the nation’s domestic agenda, there’s little room for optimism about increased federal support to or discussion on black college sustainability and growth over the next four years.
Monday
December 2012
COMMENTS
Written by HBCU Digest, Posted in Editorial
Minister Louis Farrakhan recently concluded a busy month in black academia. He visited Bowie State University, Tennessee State University and Kennedy King College, a predominately black junior college on Chicago’s Southside in November, giving talks rooted in history, while foreshadowing the future.
The Final Call reported his Kennedy King College visit. While in the Chi, the minister reminded students of harsh realities and the sacrifices that created their current opportunities.
“All of you represent the future of our people. Our ancestors have suffered much, and paid a great price,” Minister Farrakhan said. “Your parents and your grandparents have sacrificed much as well, (so) that you could sit where you sit today.”
Wednesday
November 2012
COMMENTS
Tuesday
September 2012
COMMENTS
Written by HBCU Digest, Posted in Norfolk State University, Politics, Virginia
Norfolk State University welcomed a crowd of more than 11,000 to see President Barack Obama at his final campaign stop before heading to the Democratic National Convention. From the Daily Press:
Students chanted “four more years,” and waved smart phones over their heads trying to snap a picture of the president as he took the stage.
Near the end of his speech he made a direct appeal to the college-age attendees in the crowd.
“We’ve got a lot more young people to send to college, we’ve got more teachers we’ve gotta hire, and more middle schools we’ve got to build,” he said.
“We’ve got more doors of opportunity we need to open up.”
Friday
August 2012
COMMENTS
Written by HBCU Digest, Posted in Politics, Virginia
President Barack Obama will make a campaign stop at Norfolk State University on Sept. 4. The event is free and open to the public, but attendees must get tickets in advance.
HBCUs back on the president’s radar, just in time for election season. Let’s hope we can find a permanent place on that radar in a potential next term.
Monday
July 2012
COMMENTS
Written by HBCU Digest, Posted in Editorial, Politics
President Barack Obama last week revealed an executive order mandating improved educational access and opportunity for African-Americans. The White House spells out critical need areas in closing the achievement gap for African-American students at the secondary level, and promoting college readiness through community improvement, better partnerships between non-profits and federal agencies towards student engagement, and increased resources to schools largely serving African-Americans.
Throughout the order, President Obama name checks his White House Initiative on HBCUs and increased partnership with HBCUs as the way to strengthening opportunities for Black folks. The order has some flaws, such as questionable timing and the thinking behind its leadership selection process. But overall, it’s the first major step to sufficiently reversing historic negligence of Black folks through empowering the institutions best equipped to serve the community.
Thursday
March 2012
COMMENTS
Written by HBCU Digest, Posted in Dillard University, Headlines, Politics
“These two men have proven themselves to be top-flight attorneys, and I am confident that they will ensure justice is served as United States Attorneys,” said President Obama in the release.
Danny C. Williams, Sr. has been a partner at the firm of Charney, Buss & Williams since 2003. Prior to becoming partner, Williams worked as an associate for Bodenhamier and Levinson from 2000 to 2003 and for Riggs, Abney, Neal, Turpen, Orbinson & Lewis from 1993 to 2000. From 1991 to 1993, Williams served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office. He graduated from Dillard University in 1988 and earned his law degree from the University of Tulsa College of Law in 1991.
Tuesday
February 2012
COMMENTS
Written by HBCU Digest, Posted in Headlines, Leadership, Politics
President Barack Obama earlier this month appointed noted LGBT advocate and Morehouse alumnus Reverend George B. Walker, Jr. to the White House Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Rev. Walker’s appointment was lauded by the National Black Justice Coalition, a civil rights organization dedicated to empowering Black lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and key partner in an upcoming White House policy briefing for LGBT campus leaders at HBCUs.
“We’re thrilled that our President is such an inclusive one,” says Sharon Lettman-Hicks, NBJC executive director. “And we hope that others will recognize that LGBT leadership is needed at the table to adequately address the issues we as Black people face.”
Rev. Walker is the Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Victory Institute (“Victory”), a position he has held since October 2011. From 2008 to 2011, Reverend Walker was the Vice President of Leadership Initiatives at Victory.
Rev. Walker joins the board with fellow appointee and corporate business veteran Milton Irvin.
Tuesday
December 2011
COMMENTS
Written by HBCU Digest, Posted in Tuskegee University
Shaik Jeelani, Tuskegee University’s vice president for research and sponsored programs, was among the recipients of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. The mentors received their awards at a White House ceremony with President Barack Obama on Monday, Dec. 12. The president gave awards to eight other individuals and eight organizations. The mentors and organizations are the winners for 2010 and 2011.
“Through their commitment to education and innovation, these individuals and organizations are playing a crucial role in the development of our 21st century workforce,” President Obama said in a National Science Foundation press release. “Our nation owes them a debt of gratitude for helping ensure that America remains the global leader in science and engineering for years to come.”
Read the full story at:
Tuskegee University
Wednesday
November 2011
COMMENTS
Thursday
October 2010
COMMENTS
Written by HBCU Digest, Posted in Bowie State University, Headlines, Maryland, Politics
Bowie State University will host President Barack Obama at a voting rally for Maryland Democrats this afternoon beginning at 12:30 p.m. It is the second visit to the BSU campus for President Obama, with his first visit coming in 2006 as a presidential candidate in a campaigning stop.
Bowie State is a political hotbed for state and national legislators. Since 2006, the campus has hosted several key political figures in campaigning exercises, student forums and official government addresses. The list of activities includes:
· In 2006 U.S. Senator Obama chose Bowie State to rally voters in his bid for presidency.
· In the fall of 2007 Lt. Governor Brown held a BRAC subcommittee at meeting at Bowie State (click here).
· Governor O’Malley addressed his first commencement speech as Governor of Maryland at Bowie State in December 2007 (click here).
· In 2008 U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton held a town hall meeting at BSU when running as a presidential candidate.
· In March 2009 Bowie State students discussed higher education issues with U.S. Senators Barbara Mikulski and Benjamin Cardin and Governor O’Malley (click here).
· U.S. Congressman Elijah E. Cummings and Executive Director of the White House Initiative on HBCUs Dr. John Silvanus Wilson, Jr. both were keynote speakers at Bowie State’s Founders’ Day events in 2009 and 2010 respectively.
· U. S. Congressman and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer met with BSU students in March 2010 to discuss the newly-enacted health insurance and the benefits in the bill (click here).
Tuesday
September 2010
COMMENTS
Monday
May 2010
COMMENTS
Written by HBCU Digest, Posted in Hampton University, Headlines, News
President Barack Obama’s message to the 2010 graduating class of Hampton University was one that resonated throughout his campaign, and well-within his tenure as president: the obligation of personal responsibility and honorable calling of service. From the Daily Press:
He quoted Frederick Douglass, saying that “education … means emancipation,” and told graduates that their college degrees are more important than ever, because high school diplomas are no longer a ticket to a solid middle-class life.
“All those checks you or your parents wrote to Hampton will pay off,” he said. “You are in a strong position to out compete workers around the world.”
Obama spoke of disparity in academic achievement, with blacks being outperformed by their white classmates, and rich students outperforming poor students, no matter their skin color. All Americans have a responsibility to change that, he said.
“Be role models for your brothers and sisters,” Obama told graduates. “Be mentors in your communities. And when the time comes, pass that sense of an education’s value down to your children.”
