[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 178 (Wednesday, September 14, 2016)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 63351-63352]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-22288]



[[Page 63349]]

Vol. 81

Wednesday,

No. 178

September 14, 2016

Part V





The President





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Proclamation 9487--National Hispanic-Serving Institutions Week, 2016



Proclamation 9488--National Days of Prayer and Remembrance, 2016



Proclamation 9489--World Suicide Prevention Day, 2016



Proclamation 9490--National Grandparents Day, 2016



Proclamation 9491--Patriot Day and National Day of Service and 
Remembrance, 2016
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  Federal Register / Vol. 81 , No. 178 / Wednesday, September 14, 2016 
/ Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

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                Proclamation 9487 of September 9, 2016

                
National Hispanic-Serving Institutions Week, 2016

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Ensuring opportunity is within reach for everyone 
                requires us to provide all our people with access to a 
                world-class education. Higher education gives people a 
                sense of who they are and sharpens how they see the 
                world, and in our 21st-century economy, it is an 
                investment that pays off--helping Americans work their 
                way into the middle class. Across our country, 
                Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) have helped 
                Hispanic students--many of whom are the first in their 
                family to go to college--earn a college degree. This 
                week, we reflect on how these important institutions 
                have helped Hispanic students reach for their dreams, 
                and we reaffirm our commitment to supporting them for 
                generations to come.

                HSIs have given more Hispanics access to the resources 
                and opportunities they need to compete in our economy. 
                More than half of America's Hispanic undergraduates 
                attend HSIs, which have played a critical role in 
                increasing access to a college education and have 
                worked to bolster enrollment, retention, and graduation 
                rates. In the last several years, college enrollment 
                among Hispanics hit a record high, and today, it 
                continues to grow. Over the past two decades, the 
                percentage of young Hispanics who have earned a college 
                degree has increased significantly--but in that same 
                time, disparities have persisted. HSIs are helping 
                ensure more Hispanics have the opportunity to complete 
                college, moving us closer to our goal of leading the 
                world in higher education by 2020.

                Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing minority 
                group in America, and we must keep striving to ensure 
                they can pursue an exceptional education. My 
                Administration has sought to improve educational 
                outcomes and opportunities for every American, 
                including Hispanics through the White House Initiative 
                on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. We have helped 
                strengthen HSIs, which serve a higher proportion of 
                low-income students than other institutions of higher 
                education, by investing more than $1 billion in them 
                over 10 years. Because college has never been more 
                expensive, I have also taken steps to make it easier 
                for more Americans to pay for higher education--steps 
                that include expanding Pell Grants and offering tuition 
                tax credits. And I am fighting for 2 years of free 
                community college for any student willing to work for 
                it, because no American should be priced out of a 
                quality education.

                The contributions of Hispanics have shaped our national 
                narrative, and it is crucial to our success that we 
                empower more Hispanics and young people across our 
                country to thrive. For generations, HSIs have helped 
                Hispanics earn college degrees, seek meaningful 
                careers, and aspire to be anything they want. At the 
                heart of our Nation is the idea that no matter where 
                you come from or what you look like, if you are willing 
                to work hard, you can make it in America. By expanding 
                opportunities for all, we can bring more people closer 
                to reaching their piece of the American dream.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the 
                United States, do hereby proclaim September 12 through

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                September 18, 2016, as National Hispanic-Serving 
                Institutions Week. I call on public officials, 
                educators, and all the people of the United States to 
                observe this week with appropriate programs, 
                ceremonies, and activities that acknowledge the many 
                ways these institutions and their graduates contribute 
                to our country.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                ninth day of September, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand sixteen, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and forty-first.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2016-22288
Filed 9-13-16; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3295-F6-P