The survival of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) is at stake. Today, more than ever before, there is an urgent necessity to stand up, speak out, and let the voice and fundamental interests of 45 million Black Americans be heard. Education has always been at the heart of our long struggle for freedom, justice, and equality. Proposed budget cuts by the U.S. Congress will put Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs) in a severe fiscal crisis.
April 6
and 7, 2011 in Washington, D.C. there will be a much needed show of force in
support of HBCUs and PBLs on Capitol Hill. This is an urgent call to action for students, parents,
teachers, administrators, ministers, leaders, activists, and the masses of
African Americans to turn out in opposition to the proposed budget cuts to our
colleges and universities. We have
come too far, struggled and worked too hard, and sacrificed and bled too much
in the establishment of these vital academic and career fulfillment
institutions to now let the cold, damp hands of political dereliction snatch
the fiscal life from our colleges and universities.
Power
concedes nothing without a demand. There are too many in the U.S. Congress today who simply do not care
about the future sustainability of African American institutions of higher
learning. This is not a case of
political or social ignorance. But, this is another clear case of racial discriminatory triage cloaked
under the questionable guise of fiscal restraint and deficit reduction. We demand that the U.S. Congress
refrain from cutting and gutting financial support for HBCUs and PBIs.
We join
with the National Association For Equal Opportunity in Higher Education
(NAFEO), United Negro College Fund (UNCF), Thurgood Marshall College Fund
(TMCF), the Congressional Black
Caucus (CBC), the Hip Hop Caucus, the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN), and
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to
mobilize national support to let the U.S. Congress know that funding for our
colleges and universities should not be cut.
Dr. Lezli
Baskerville, the President and CEO of NAFEO, urged, “We need you to join us in
D.C. and help us educate Congress about why HBCU and PBI funding cannot be
traded away for sustained defense funding or partisan posturing. We need HBCUs and PBIs to continue
preparing diverse students in the arts and sciences, technology and
engineering, and mathematics, as well as teaching health, globalization,
greening, and sustainability professionals.” April 6 and 7, 2011 has been titled, “Lift Every Voice &
Be Heard” days of support for HBCUs and PBIs in Washington, D.C. If you are in D.C. or near D.C.
on these days, you should come out and join this most important gathering. We have to send the right message to
Congress and the time is now.
We have
to make sure that Fiscal Year 2011 Budget funding for HBCUs and PBIs is not
rescinded by Congress and that Fiscal Year 2012 Budget funding for our colleges
and universities is at least level-funded and adjusted for inflation. What get’s cut and who gets cut should
be a matter of public policy impacted by the express will of the people and not
left solely to the political whims of an extremely narrow view of the nation
and world.
While
HBCUs represent just 4 percent of U.S. universities, HBCUs confer 22 percent of
all bachelor degrees earned by African Americans, 24 percent of all bachelor
degrees awarded to African Americans in engineering, and 35 percent of all
bachelor degrees in astronomy, biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics. Fifty percent of all African American
teachers attended and graduated from HBCUs. HBCUs and PBIs collectively employ more than 200,000
people and contribute more than $10 billion annually to the U.S. economy. The historical legacy and the
contemporary relevancy of these critical important educational institutions
cannot be overstated.
Black
Americans and all Americans should be proud of the academic and leadership
track record of HBCUs and PBIs. We
live at a time when hard and tough decisions are going to be made about the
fiscal budgets at both the federal and state levels. If Black Americans do not assert the value of our
educational institutions, who will? If we do not speak up now, who will? I will be in Washington, D.C. on April 6th and 7th. You should make every effort to
join us. Our children and our
grandchildren deserve the best and most equitable quality education from pre-K
to post-graduate school. Now is the
time, once again, for us to speak clearly and forcibly. The budget scrapple is swinging in our
direction disproportionately. What
are we going to do about it? Let’s
make sure our voices are “heard and felt” on this issue. Save, fund, and protect our HBCUs and
PBIs.
Dr.
Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. is Senior Advisor to the Black Alliance for Educational
Options (BAEO) and President of Education Online Services Corporation.
