[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 181 (Wednesday, September 18, 2024)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 76393-76395]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-21447]


 
 
                         Presidential Documents 
 
 

  Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 181 / Wednesday, September 18, 2024 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 76393]]


                Proclamation 10811 of September 13, 2024

                
National Historically Black Colleges and 
                Universities Week, 2024

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                For more than 180 years, Historically Black Colleges 
                and Universities (HBCUs) have delivered a quality 
                education to Black students across our Nation. Over 100 
                HBCUs serve as engines of economic opportunity and make 
                America more prosperous and equitable. Although they 
                make up less than 3 percent of all postsecondary 
                institutions in the United States, HBCUs account for 8 
                percent of Black undergraduate enrollment and 13 
                percent of all bachelor's degrees earned by Black 
                students. During National Historically Black Colleges 
                and Universities Week, we celebrate the incredible 
                legacy of these institutions, we honor the quality 
                education, economic mobility, and opportunity they 
                bring to so many students--particularly students from 
                low-income backgrounds and those who are the first in 
                their families to go to college--and we recommit to 
                supporting and investing in their success.

                HBCUs are centers of academic excellence, shaping the 
                dreamers and doers who push our Nation forward. Within 
                my Administration, I have seen firsthand just how an 
                HBCU education shapes leaders and alumni--including 
                Vice President Kamala Harris and the Administrator of 
                the Environmental Protection Agency, Michael Regan. 
                Eighty percent of our Nation's Black judges, 50 percent 
                of all Black lawyers, and nearly 40 percent of 
                Congressional Black Caucus members went to an HCBU. 
                HBCUs produce 40 percent of all Black engineers and 70 
                percent of Black doctors. Some of our Nation's greatest 
                visionaries, scholars, artists, athletes, and leaders 
                of every sector have credited their success to their 
                time at an HBCU. And HBCUs educate twice as many Pell 
                Grant-eligible students as other institutions.

                I have always supported our Nation's HBCUs, which tap 
                into the full talent and diversity of our country. 
                HBCUs are incredible institutions, but they unfairly 
                face historic funding gaps and do not have the same 
                endowments as other universities. My Administration has 
                delivered record investments in HBCUs--totaling more 
                than $16 billion. That funding has helped support 
                students, student-veterans, and staff; improve campus 
                infrastructure; expand Science, Technology, 
                Engineering, and Math (STEM) research programs; and so 
                much more. My Administration also secured first-time 
                funding for the Augustus F. Hawkins Centers of 
                Excellence Grant Program, providing more than $23 
                million in grants to HBCUs and Minority Serving 
                Institutions to prepare our next generation of teachers 
                and increase the diversity of the profession.

                Additionally, I re-established the White House 
                Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, 
                and Economic Opportunity through HBCUs to ensure they 
                have greater access to Federal funding opportunities. 
                Furthermore, as Americans, we have to ensure that hate 
                and hate-fueled violence are given no safe harbor in 
                this country. When more than one-third of our country's 
                HBCUs were targeted by dozens of bomb threats in 2022, 
                my Administration worked to quickly expand the 
                accessibility of a broad spectrum of Federal security 
                services, resources, and expertise to support them. We 
                also deployed over $2.4 million in Project School 
                Emergency

[[Page 76394]]

                Response to Violence grants that have helped restore 
                safe learning environments and investments in mental 
                health and well-being for students. I strongly condemn 
                any threats made by domestic extremists on HBCUs, and I 
                will continue to do everything I can to protect all 
                Americans from the threat of violence.

                My Administration is also working to make sure college 
                is more affordable for every American. We secured a 
                $900 increase to the maximum Pell Grant award--the 
                largest increase in over a decade--putting funding 
                directly in students' hands. And we are working on 
                relieving the crushing burden of student loan debt. To 
                date, nearly 5 million Americans have received student 
                loan debt relief, totaling almost $170 billion through 
                various actions taken by my Administration. We also 
                fixed the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program 
                (PSLF) so that public servants get the relief they are 
                entitled to under the law. My Administration has 
                already provided relief to 947,000 borrowers through 
                PSLF. Before I took office, only 7,000 public servants 
                had received debt relief through this program. And 
                earlier this year, I announced new plans that would 
                provide debt relief for more than 30 million Americans 
                when combined with everything my Administration has 
                done so far.

                This year, as I delivered the commencement address at 
                Morehouse College, I felt honored to stand alongside 
                these incredible students, whose legacies will surely 
                lift our Nation up. These students, like so many others 
                before them, launched their boundless futures at an 
                HBCU. During National Historically Black Colleges and 
                Universities Week, may we celebrate these critical 
                institutions for all the doors of opportunity they 
                open. May we honor their dedication to seeing their 
                students thrive. And may we recommit to supporting 
                HBCUs, which continue to prove that the American Dream 
                is big enough for everyone to succeed.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., 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 15 
                through September 21, 2024, as National Historically 
                Black Colleges and Universities Week. I call upon 
                educators, students, public officials, professional 
                organizations, corporations, and all Americans to 
                observe this week with appropriate programs, 
                ceremonies, and activities that acknowledge the 
                countless contributions these institutions and their 
                alumni have made to our country.

[[Page 76395]]

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

[FR Doc. 2024-21447
Filed 9-17-24; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P