Executive Director of the White House Initiative on HBCUs
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photo by steed media service
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Dr.
Leonard L. Haynes III, the executive director of the White House
Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, ensures
that the federal government appropriates substantially more federal
subsidies for the 105 HBCUs in 20 states, the District of Columbia and
the U.S. Virgin Islands than in years passed. The initiative began
during the Jimmy Carter administration, and mandated that federal
entities be more equitable in the distribution of federal grants and
monies between mainstream institutions and their black counterparts,
which have “always operated in tough times” since their founding over a
century ago, Haynes explains.
“He was the first president to sign an executive order directing that
the federal government increase and expand its participation,” says
Haynes, a Washington, D.C., resident and graduate of Southern
University. “Federal research dollars are very important to higher
education. And before this executive order, [they] were almost
nonexistent in terms of participation rates. It’s important that we
have the order.”
The HBCU initiative is even more important now as the nation continues
to thrash about during these perilous economic times, for as Haynes
admantly articulates, HBCU’s have always matriculated African American
students through their institutions at a copious rate. “The black
college community [is] graduating a [large] number of blacks with
bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees and professional degrees. They are
tremendous contributors to this nation. In terms of economic impact, we
don’t often think about the impact, but they are responsible for over
$12 billion of economic impact to the United States,” says Haynes. –terry shropshire
