New UNCF Congressional Honor Roll Recognizes Members of Congress for their Support of HBCUs
By Opal Comfort
Tuesday, March 5, 2019 (Miami Gardens) Today, UNCF (the United Negro College Fund) released the first HBCU Congressional Honor Roll, recognizing 59 members of Congress for their efforts on behalf of HBCUs and their students. The honor roll will be released annually and highlight members of Congress who have served as true champions and strong advocates for HBCUs and their students beyond their voting records.
Congressional support of HBCUs is vital to the continued success and sustainability of these institutions. Recognizing this, as well as the social and economic impact of HBCUs on this country and this state, each of the members recognized has taken strong steps to support these institutions by doing things such as joining the Bipartisan HBCU Caucus or sponsoring legislation beneficial to HBCUs and the students they serve.
“HBCUs like Florida Memorial University are engines of immense social and economic impact in the South Florida community,” said Dr. Jaffus Hardrick, interim president of FMU. “But we cannot carry out this work without federal support. The new UNCF honor roll list enables institutional leaders, faculty and students to gauge the support of their elected officials and give them another tool with which to advocate. We look forward to our senators and representatives joining with us and UNCF to support the HBCU agenda and advance our priorities. We also appreciate the support and leadership of U.S. Representatives Frederica Wilson and Alcee Hastings.”
“This new HBCU honor roll empowers the work our institutions began more than 150 years ago and hopefully helps us build on the gains we made during the last Congress,” said UNCF’s President and CEO Dr. Michael Lomax. “These gains included more than $100 million in additional support for HBCUs. However, our institutions still need significant investment in their infrastructure and innovation goals. In addition to releasing this honor roll, today I delivered the first ever ‘State of the HBCU Address.’ I called on all lawmakers to renew and increase their commitment to HBCUs, the students and the communities they serve by providing additional funding for the Title III Strengthening Institutions Program and setting aside $1 billion for HBCU capital improvement.”
