Celebrating National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week

CELEBRATING NATIONAL HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES WEEK -- (House of Representatives - September 14, 2006)

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) is recognized for 5 minutes.

GENERAL LEAVE

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my special order today.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Maryland?

There was no objection.

Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, the week of September 10 was denominated National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week by legislation introduced by our colleague and my friend, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, and passed this past July, and I am honored to join my colleagues today in celebrating it.

The contributions made by HBCUs to the African American community, to our country and to our culture cannot be overstated. As President Clinton once noted, ``Generations of African American educators, physicians, lawyers, scientists, and other professionals found at HBCUs the knowledge, experience and encouragement they needed to reach their full potential.''

The alumni rolls of HBCUs read like a Hall of Fame list, Mr. Speaker: Martin Luther King, Jr., a graduate of Morehouse College; Booker T. Washington, Hampton University, who also helped found the Tuskegee Institute in 1881, what is now known as Tuskegee University; W.E.B. DuBois, Fisk University; and Wilma Rudolph from Tennessee State University.

The list, of course, could go on and on, and indeed I could mention Members of the Congressional Black Caucus itself. In fact, it probably will surprise no one that nearly half of our friends and colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus received their degrees Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Public service continues to be a hallmark of the graduate of black colleges and universities.

Today, Mr. Speaker, there are 103 Historically Black Colleges and Universities in our Nation, serving more than 260,000 undergraduate students, with 27 percent offering either a first professional degree or a doctorate.

HBCUs confer nearly a quarter of all bachelor's degrees awarded each year to African Americans, and they confer the majority of bachelor's degrees and advanced degrees awarded to black students in the physical sciences, mathematics, computer science, engineering and education.

The real story, Mr. Speaker, that underlies these figures, is the story of hope and opportunity. Before the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, African Americans were routinely and unjustly excluded from institutions of higher learning. It didn't matter how smart you were, it didn't matter how much talent or potential you had; the only thing that mattered was the color of your skin. What a failed, immoral policy. But out of that rank injustice, that indefensible racism, was born a fortitude and a determination to rise above, to overcome through education.

Thus, the first black college, what is now known as Cheyney University in Cheyney, Pennsylvania, was founded in 1837. To appreciate the magnitude of this, remember that Cheyney was created a full 28 years before the ratification of the 13th Amendment, to train free blacks to become school teachers. Today, Cheyney continues to serve with great pride as an avenue for African Americans to attend college.

Four of the 103 HBCUs are located in the State of Maryland, including Bowie State University in my own district, a college with which I have been working since 1967 when I was elected to the Maryland State Senate. Bowie was founded in 1865, and is the oldest Historically Black University in Maryland.

The others are a great institution in Baltimore City, Morgan State, and its sister, Coppin State, both in that great city, and the last is the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore, located in Princess Anne.

Let me say as a former member of the Maryland Board of Regents and as someone acutely interested in education and the needs of our youth, I see the manifest vision and the determination of HBCUs in practice every day. I see it in the faces of the children in my district, who know that they will have the opportunity to develop their skills and talents, whether they choose Bowie State, the University of Maryland at College Park or any other school.

I see it in the faces of the young professionals who have attended an HBCU who are now working hard to build their careers and contribute to our society. And, yes, I see it in the faces of those here tonight who appreciate the unique role and history of Historically Black Colleges and Universities and who understand the importance of their continued vibrancy.

We must recognize, Mr. Speaker, that our strength as a Nation lies not just in the quality of the University of Maryland at College Park, but in the excellence of Bowie State. We must realize while we celebrate the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, we also must take joy in the accomplishments of North Carolina A&T.

HBCUs have strengthened our country and enriched our culture beyond measure, and while they can take great pride in their glorious past, it is incumbent upon all of us to ensure that they enjoy an even brighter future.

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