The Charlotte Observer

In her first leadership role as a member of Congress, North Carolina’s Rep. Alma Adams on Tuesday made sure that minority students and historically black colleges were included in a debate on how to improve the nation’s higher education system.

The longtime educator led the Democrats at a House Education and Workforce Training subcommittee hearing on the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. She filled in for ranking member Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, D-Texas, who could not attend the hearing.

From her days in the North Carolina state legislature, Adams has long advocated for educational equity and fairness in funding for historically black colleges. After getting to Washington, D.C., the first bill she introduced in January was to reauthorize the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Historic Preservation program.

There are five HBCUs, as the schools are known, in North Carolina’s 12th District, which Adams represents. She taught at an HBCU, Bennett College, for 40 years and graduated from North Carolina A&T University, another historically black college. read more…