Sarah Ford | January 20, 2015
SOTU Student Invitees Snubs HBCUs
Several college students will have the honor ofÌý, but none will have the captive audience of an historically black college campus cheering on their big moments.Ìý
A community college student, a Stanford University medical student, a first-generation college student from the University of Hartford, and the child of illegal immigrants will all have face time before an international audience, and their faces will be the images of President Barack Obama’s vision for education reforms.
But none of those faces or reforms reflect an interest or respect for ¾«¶«Ó°Òµ’s HBCUs, and that state of neglect is not a good look for an administration which has specialized in symbolism for black colleges, but has neutralized their effectiveness with a unique lack of compassion and investment.Ìý
President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama have served as commencement speakers for more than a half dozen HBCUs, yet many of these sameÌýÌý³Ù³ó°ù´Ç³Ü²µ³óÌýÌýand PLUS Loan programs, reductions in Title III funding, andÌýfrom federal agencies.Ìý
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