GOP lawmakers in Washington to meet with HBCU leaders

Republican legislators in Washington are planning to meet with leaders of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) later this month to discuss ways to better serve the schools and students who attend them.

On Feb. 28, Sen. Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) and Rep. Mark Walker (R-North Carolina), with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, will lead a daylong “fly-in” discussion with 106 HBCU administrators.

Walker, whose wife earned her nurse practitioner and bachelor of science in nursing degrees from Winston-Salem State University, released a video last month reiterating his support for HBCUs and what he’d like to do to help.

“I can look at [HBCUs] from a perspective of how it’s impacted our family and to make sure that people know that these HBCUs are doing great work,” he said. “When these young folks come out of an HBCU program, I can personally testify that they’re ready to engage and transition into any workforce.”

Many HBCU advocates believe former President Barack Obama’s administration didn’t do enough to support the particular needs of their schools. But the Department of Education argued in a fact sheet released last fall that the administration invested more than $4 billion in HBCUs over the course of seven years and that the administration’s Higher Education Act helped 1 million more African-American and Latino students enroll in college.

Omarosa Manigault, director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison under President Donald Trump, is set to attend the meeting this month, along with House Speaker Paul Ryan, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Alabama), Rep. Mia Love (R-Utah) and former Oklahoma Rep. J.C. Watts.