Officials at the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) extend appreciation to President Trump for signing an executive order reestablishing the White House Initiative to Promote Excellence and Innovation at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (White House Initiative) and reinforcing key TMCF policy priorities for the HBCU community.
“Today’s executive order serves as strong reaffirmation of President Trump’s support of investment of historically Black colleges and universities,” said TMCF President & CEO Dr. Harry L. Williams. “This executive order should serve as a call-to-action for corporations, foundations, members of Congress and state lawmakers to redouble their efforts to support HBCUs and their students. TMCF looks forward to continued engagement with the administration and Congress to deliver results for HBCUs and the students they serve via appropriations and other legislative actions.”
Following the signing of the executive order today, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said, “The White House initiative highlighted today reinforces President Trump’s commitment to supporting and elevating America’s HBCUs. The Department will work with the initiative and HBCUs to expand partnerships and share best practices for institutions to become hubs of opportunity and economic engines for local industries and employers. I am eager to elevate and support America’s HBCUs, including in my role on the President’s Board of Advisors for the White House Initiative on HBCUs.”
In addition to reestablishing the White House Initiative, this executive order encourages states to meet their obligations by matching federal funds appropriated to 1890 Land Grant HBCUs, marking the first time this issue has been highlighted in an executive order. Additionally, today’s executive order explicitly encourages private and philanthropic investment into HBCUs and their students. Today’s signing also moves the White House Initiative back to the White House, where its reporting lines resided during the first Trump administration.
“The TMCF government relations team has worked closely with the White House to advocate for the inclusion of our policy priorities in the executive order over the past three months and we are very pleased that many of our priorities are reflected in the final version of the document promulgated today,” Dr. Williams said.
