[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 186 (Thursday, September 25, 1997)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 50471-50472]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-25697]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 186 / Thursday, September 25, 1997 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 50471]]


                Proclamation 7025 of September 19, 1997

                
National Historically Black Colleges and 
                Universities Week, 1997

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                we are a few short years away from the dawn of the 21st 
                century, yet much of the challenge and change we have 
                been anticipating is already upon us. We are competing 
                today in a truly global economy, an economy based on 
                information and technology as well as agriculture and 
                industry. We are living in the age of the information 
                revolution, the era of the World Wide Web, of daily 
                advances in communications technology where a universe 
                of knowledge is only a keyboard and a modem away. We 
                are crossing the frontier into a new world, and our 
                only map and compass in that world will be education.

                 We must build an educational system that prepares our 
                young people for the jobs of the future. We must 
                empower them with the values, experiences, and self-
                confidence to succeed in our diverse society. We must 
                provide them with the knowledge and motivation to reach 
                their full human potential--and we must leave no one 
                behind. In devising such an educational system, we need 
                only look to America's Historically Black Colleges and 
                Universities (HBCUs) for a model of excellence.

                This extraordinary network of institutions, more than a 
                century old, has created a legacy of unquestioned 
                accomplishment in fostering student success. Founded to 
                educate African Americans in a segregated society, 
                these colleges and universities have flourished and 
                built an enviable record of achievement in educating 
                America's black scientists, doctors, teachers, lawyers, 
                artists, entrepreneurs, community and religious 
                leaders, and other professionals. They have provided 
                generations of students with access to highly 
                supportive environments for learning. The experience 
                and expertise of HBCUs make them an invaluable resource 
                to our Nation during this period of significant change.

                America's Historically Black Colleges and Universities 
                daily demonstrate effective leadership in a multitude 
                of ways: they develop and practice innovative academic 
                approaches to ensure student success; they create 
                campus programs that offer new solutions to critical 
                social problems; they produce cutting-edge research 
                with practical applications; and they forge strong 
                global relationships from a myriad of international 
                activities. Moreover, against formidable financial 
                odds, they have persisted in keeping education 
                affordable for the constituencies they serve, without 
                sacrificing quality. They have never allowed scarce 
                funding, poor educational preparation, or societal 
                disadvantage to get in the way of their mission to 
                educate and nurture the intellectual potential of the 
                black community.

                Historically Black Colleges and Universities have done 
                more to make the American Dream a reality for African 
                Americans than has any other set of institutions in our 
                country. These institutions are poised to enter the 
                21st century, ready to build on this tradition of 
                excellence, achievement, and reverence for education. 
                We can count on them to continue to make vital 
                contributions to our Nation's success and to ensure 
                that America lives up to our fundamental values of 
                equality and opportunity.

[[Page 50472]]

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United 
                States, do hereby proclaim September 21 through 
                September 27, 1997, as National Historically Black 
                Colleges and Universities Week. I call upon the people 
                of the United States, including government officials, 
                educators, and administrators, to observe this week 
                with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities 
                honoring America's Historically Black Colleges and 
                Universities and their graduates.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                nineteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord 
                nineteen hundred and ninety-seven, and of the 
                Independence of the United States of America the two 
                hundred and twenty-second.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 97-25697
Filed 9-24-97; 8:59 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P