National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week, 2020

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National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week, 2020

A Proclamation

For more than 180 years, our Nation's Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have exhibited remarkable excellence in higher education and served as engines of opportunity and advancement for thousands of Black Americans. During National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week, we celebrate the achievements of HBCUs and their students and pledge our continuing support to the nearly 300,000 individuals currently pursuing their dreams at HBCUs throughout the United States.

For nearly two centuries, HBCU graduates have profoundly shaped American life and culture. In science and technology, HBCU graduates have led the way in innovation, like engineer and inventor Otis Boykin, who held more than 20 patents during his lifetime, including for a wire precision resistor used in radios and televisions, and for a control unit used in pacemakers that helped save countless lives. From thought leaders like Booker T. Washington and civil rights heroes like Martin Luther King, Jr., to great legal minds like Thurgood Marshall and renowned authors like James Weldon Johnson, our Republic is more vibrant because of HBCUs and their students.

My Administration will always stand beside these wonderful colleges and universities as they pursue their mission to provide their students with a high-quality education. In order to further promote the success of HBCUs in the years to come, I signed an Executive Order in February of 2017 on the White House Initiative to Promote Excellence and Innovation at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. This action established the President's Board of Advisors on HBCUs, and as a result, 32 Federal departments and agencies now have plans in place to help HBCUs secure available Federal resources and opportunities. Additionally, my Administration recently released a Framework for the Development of a Federal HBCU Competitiveness Strategy, further facilitating productive partnerships between HBCU students and faculty members and public and private-sector entities.