They're trying to take away our TIII money
For those of you who are the least familiar with the way that most of the programs are funded at our schools, then you know that most of the programs get funding from government via Title III funds. However there is a vote tomorrow at the US LEG that will cut the funding to programs like Upward Bound, Ronald McNair, the research programs at your schools, the money that goes to funding new developments on campus like dorms and buildings, and so much more. i've attached a letter from Dwayne Ashley national president for the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund to the chairman of the committee in charge.
The Honorable Howard McKeon
Chairman
Education and Workforce Committee
21st Century Competitiveness Subcommittee
2351 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Chairman McKeon:
It again appears that the students of public Historically Black Colleges and Universities must fight for the funding they are entitled to by our government. As President and CEO of the only national organization that empowers students attending public Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), I fervently urge you to support the Amendment offered by Representative Major Owens, the original sponsor of Title III B Part B - Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities, a crucial element of the Higher Education Assistance Act.
Students of these public HBCUs face nearly insurmountable obstacles in their struggle to gain access to affordable, quality higher education. Public HBCUs serve as cornerstones for the communities in which they are located and over 80% of African Americans enrolled in an HBCU (including both public and private) are students in one of our forty-seven public HBCUs. These graduates comprise the majority of the African American workforce in the United States of America including 58% of African American public school educators. These numbers don’t lie, Chairman McKeon; public and traditionally Black HBCUs work and are invaluable to the students, faculty, and staff in the cities and towns they serve.
Two of our member schools in particular (Medgar Evers College in New York and Chicago State University in Illinois) are not currently considered public HBCUs. Though originally intended to serve Black Students, these schools were founded after 1964 and as such, were not included in the original 107 schools in the 1987 Act. These traditionally Black schools have garnered impressive reputations in serving their communities even if they have not been recognized as HBCUs. This amendment seeks to replace ineligible or terminated schools with a number of remarkable traditionally Black Institutions including Medgar Evers and Chicago State and does so without an increased funding request. As expressed by Representative Owens, this is merely the replacement of demised or disqualified schools with vibrant institutions serving the same category of students. In supporting this amendment, you support the just and equal preservation of funding for existing public HBCUs, you support the nearly 1,000 California voters currently enrolled in public HBCUs across the country, and you support the future of more than 215,000 students in these outstanding institutions of higher learning.
In addition to my support of this important amendment, I must also support the efforts of Representative Owens to strike subsection (d) from page 101, lines 10-19 of H.R. 609, which would raise the floor of funding for HBCUs from $500,000 to $750,000.
Upon closer examination of the provisions in this section, the schools standing to benefit would predominately be those private HBCUs with enrollment far below that of public HBCUs. While it is admirable to seek increased funding for one’s institution, it is unethical to seek said funding at a cost to the vast majority of students who would stand to benefit if the floor remains where it is. This dramatic shift in funding unfairly discriminates against Public HBCUs and does so without any feasible policy rationale. Should this section remain unchanged, it would have a major and adverse impact on the education of our nation’s African Americans.
I am joined in my support of striking this section by the Office for the Advancement of Public Black Colleges of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC). Please, Chairman McKeon, don’t allow our public and traditionally black HBCUs to be short-changed by the appropriations process. Why should a benefit for a handful (three to five) private HBCUs take precious funding away from the majority (thirty to thirty five) public HBCUs? Thank you for your continued support of access to higher education for all deserving students in our Nation’s finest institutions.
Regards
Dwayne Ashley
President and CEO
Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund
The Honorable Howard McKeon
Chairman
Education and Workforce Committee
21st Century Competitiveness Subcommittee
2351 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Chairman McKeon:
It again appears that the students of public Historically Black Colleges and Universities must fight for the funding they are entitled to by our government. As President and CEO of the only national organization that empowers students attending public Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), I fervently urge you to support the Amendment offered by Representative Major Owens, the original sponsor of Title III B Part B - Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities, a crucial element of the Higher Education Assistance Act.
Students of these public HBCUs face nearly insurmountable obstacles in their struggle to gain access to affordable, quality higher education. Public HBCUs serve as cornerstones for the communities in which they are located and over 80% of African Americans enrolled in an HBCU (including both public and private) are students in one of our forty-seven public HBCUs. These graduates comprise the majority of the African American workforce in the United States of America including 58% of African American public school educators. These numbers don’t lie, Chairman McKeon; public and traditionally Black HBCUs work and are invaluable to the students, faculty, and staff in the cities and towns they serve.
Two of our member schools in particular (Medgar Evers College in New York and Chicago State University in Illinois) are not currently considered public HBCUs. Though originally intended to serve Black Students, these schools were founded after 1964 and as such, were not included in the original 107 schools in the 1987 Act. These traditionally Black schools have garnered impressive reputations in serving their communities even if they have not been recognized as HBCUs. This amendment seeks to replace ineligible or terminated schools with a number of remarkable traditionally Black Institutions including Medgar Evers and Chicago State and does so without an increased funding request. As expressed by Representative Owens, this is merely the replacement of demised or disqualified schools with vibrant institutions serving the same category of students. In supporting this amendment, you support the just and equal preservation of funding for existing public HBCUs, you support the nearly 1,000 California voters currently enrolled in public HBCUs across the country, and you support the future of more than 215,000 students in these outstanding institutions of higher learning.
In addition to my support of this important amendment, I must also support the efforts of Representative Owens to strike subsection (d) from page 101, lines 10-19 of H.R. 609, which would raise the floor of funding for HBCUs from $500,000 to $750,000.
Upon closer examination of the provisions in this section, the schools standing to benefit would predominately be those private HBCUs with enrollment far below that of public HBCUs. While it is admirable to seek increased funding for one’s institution, it is unethical to seek said funding at a cost to the vast majority of students who would stand to benefit if the floor remains where it is. This dramatic shift in funding unfairly discriminates against Public HBCUs and does so without any feasible policy rationale. Should this section remain unchanged, it would have a major and adverse impact on the education of our nation’s African Americans.
I am joined in my support of striking this section by the Office for the Advancement of Public Black Colleges of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC). Please, Chairman McKeon, don’t allow our public and traditionally black HBCUs to be short-changed by the appropriations process. Why should a benefit for a handful (three to five) private HBCUs take precious funding away from the majority (thirty to thirty five) public HBCUs? Thank you for your continued support of access to higher education for all deserving students in our Nation’s finest institutions.
Regards
Dwayne Ashley
President and CEO
Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund
