Historically black schools say Obama’s policies have fallen short

The country’s first African American president is finding himself increasingly at odds with a cornerstone of the African American community: historically black colleges and universities.

 

(The Washington Post)

Leaders at these schools and some black lawmakers say the Obama administration has been pushing policies for years that hurt students at a time when historically black colleges are already cash-strapped and seeing a drop in enrollment.

Tensions spilled over after a recent Congressional Black Caucus meeting with Obama and Vice President Biden in which the president said that historically black schools, also known as HBCUs, needed to do a better job graduating students and not saddling them with debt, according to several people at the meeting. Some Black Caucus members bristled at those remarks since they say the president didn’t acknowledge that his own administration was also pursuing policies that advocates say are hurting the schools.

Read the full article HERE.

Darren Sands — Are Republicans Failing Their Black College Faithful?

Republicans who went to black colleges are an invaluable resource to the party. But College Republican National Committee rules make it extremely difficult for students at HBCUs to maintain official membership just when the GOP needs them most.

via Buzzfeed:

To be a black Republican is to be an iconoclast — challenging closely held beliefs about the black American identity and its long history in American politics. And to be one at an HBCU only puts that into greater relief. The measure of a Republican club’s success at such a school is often defined by interest — or lack thereof — of capable willing, leadership, says Harold Booker Jr., a recent Morehouse graduate.

Read the full article HERE.