[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 4794-4795]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

                                 ______
                                 

       IN HONOR OF PENNSYLVANIA'S HISTORICALLY BLACK UNIVERSITIES

 Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, in celebration of Black History 
Month, I rise today to honor Lincoln University and Cheyney University 
of Pennsylvania for the contribution they have made in the education of 
African-Americans over the past two centuries. These two institutions 
of higher learning are charter members of a group of schools known as 
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and they have had 
a seminal role in our Nation's academic heritage.
  The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is proud to be the birthplace of 
secondary education for African-Americans in this country. Cheyney 
University, originally named the Institute for Colored Youth in 
Pennsylvania, was founded in 1837 as an elementary and high school for 
young blacks. The Institute was a successful, free school for young 
students and, after some years, became a teachers college. Cheyney's 
charter mission was to instruct African descendants in mechanical arts 
and agricultural trades so that they might teach their peers to compete 
and be self-sufficient in the post-slavery economy. Today, Cheyney 
educates men and women in more than thirty disciplines and maintains 
its legacy of providing for minorities of various cultures and 
nationalities.
  Lincoln University rivals Cheyney for the title of oldest 
historically black university. Initially founded as the Ashmun 
Institute, the school opened in 1854 as the very first place of 
``higher education in the arts and sciences for male youth of African 
descent.'' In addition to the important message of educational equality 
and opportunity through learning these universities continue to convey, 
there are thousands of Lincoln and Cheyney alumni who illustrate the 
great gift these schools have given the African-American community in 
particular and the academic community at large. Among these graduates 
are Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, author Langston Hughes, 
former Nigerian President Nnamdi Azikiwe, journalist Ed Bradley, and 
publisher Robert Bogle, to name but a few.
  HBCUs are an integral aspect of what has always been the American 
dream, an ideal that sees education and industry as the tools for 
succeeding in life

[[Page 4795]]

and pursuing one's talents and interests. The livelihood of 
institutions such as Lincoln and Cheyney Universities is central to the 
preservation of this ideal and with it, our national heritage. Our 
Government has a responsibility to help sustain the legacy of these 
schools, and I am proud to support legislation to this end. Bills that 
bring 21st Century technology to tomorrow's graduates and funds 
intended to keep quality, affordable higher education available to all 
of our Nation's young students are part of the process. I encourage my 
Senate colleagues to join me in recognizing the importance of our 
country's HBCUs. I hope that together we can celebrate their history 
and ensure their future for the posterity of the Nation's higher 
education system.

                          ____________________