Dr. George E. Cooper, executive director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), will be the guest speaker at the University of the Virgin Islands Pride Week rally at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 26, outside the Melvin H. Evans Center on the Albert A. Sheen Campus on St. Croix. Dr. Cooper will address the value of HBCUs to higher education and the general community.
Cooper is the first member of President Barack Obama’s HBCU Initiative to visit UVI, which is one of 105 HBCUs located in 20 states and the District of Columbia.
In 2010, President Obama signed an executive order renewing the White House Initiative on HBCU. The initiative signifies the president’s goal to advance equal opportunity in higher education, strengthen the capacity of historically black colleges and universities to provide the highest quality education, and increase opportunities for these institutions to participate in and benefit from federal programs. read more…