Sarah Ford | January 20, 2015

SOTU Student Invitees Snubs HBCUs

Several college students will have the honor of attendance at tonight’s Presidential State of the Union address, but none will have the captive audience of an historically black college campus cheering on their big moments. 

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 America’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. 

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama have served as commencement speakers for more than a half dozen HBCUs, yet many of these same HBCUs have been dealt extreme financial hardship through changes to the federal Pell Grant and PLUS Loan programs, reductions in Title III funding, and millions denied to HBCUs through research and grant allocations from federal agencies. 

>> Continue Reading

Get Resources and Insights Straight To Your Inbox

Explore More Articles

Minority Mental Health Awareness Month

July 18, 2025

July is Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, a time dedicated to raising awareness about the unique mental health challenges faced by minority communities. It’s an…

Read Article

International Self Care Day

July 18, 2025

Today, July 24, 2025, we celebrate International Self Care Day, a day dedicated to promoting self-care practices and their numerous benefits for physical, mental, and…

Read Article
How the “Big Beautiful Bill” Will Impact Individual Giving and Employer-Sponsored Workplace Giving Programs

How the “Big Beautiful Bill” Will Impact Individual Giving and Employer-Sponsored Workplace Giving Programs

July 14, 2025

The One Big Beautiful Bill was signed into law on July 4, 2025, introducing a range of provisions that will affect how individuals, companies, and…

Read Article

Get Resources and Insights Straight To Your Inbox

Receive our monthly/bi-monthly newsletter filled with information about causes, nonprofit impact, and topics important for corporate social responsibility and employee engagement professionals, including disaster response, workplace giving, matching gifts, employee assistance funds, volunteering, scholarship award program management, grantmaking, and other philanthropic initiatives.

newsletter-mock