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| (From left to right: Dr. Michael Lomax, President and CEO, United Negro College Fund; Little Rock Mayor, Frank Scott, Jr.; Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson; O. Jerome Green, Esq., President, Shorter College; Congressman French Hill; Regina Favors, President, Arkansas Baptist College; Dr. Roderick Smothers, President, Philander Smith College; Dr. Laurence Alexander, Chancellor, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff; Jonathan Holifield, Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities) |
WASHINGTON D.C. — On Monday, Congressman French Hill (AR-02) hosted the 2019 Arkansas Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Summit at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center in Little Rock, Arkansas. Over 75 participants attended the summit including Jonathan Holifield, Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities; Dr. Michael Lomax, President and CEO, United Negro College Fund; Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr.; and Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson.
Congressman Hill, who serves as the Vice Chairman of the Congressional HBCU Caucus, hosted the summit to bring business, academic, nonprofit, and government leaders together to promote the value of HBCUs and discuss their importance in Arkansas and across the country. Representatives from Arkansas’s four Historically Black Colleges and Universities–Arkansas Baptist College, Philander Smith College, Shorter College, and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff–attended the summit to discuss the long-term sustainability and growth of Arkansas’s HBCUs.
“Arkansas is proud to celebrate the rich legacy and expectant future of HBCUs,” said Congressman Hill. “I commend all the educators and administrators who are making a difference in the lives of our young people and preparing them to succeed in a rapidly changing work environment. In Arkansas, HBCUs have served thousands of young and adult students and helped them achieve their dreams of a college education. Together, our community leaders are proving that education is one of the best investments Arkansas can make. It is my hope that the ideas and strategies shared during this summit will galvanize our efforts to secure the future of our youth and the institutions that serve them.”
“The Summit was a seminal event to highlight the competitive advantages HBCUs provide the state and people of Arkansas," said Johnathan Holifield, Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. "Thanks to Rep. Hill’s leadership, today, government, private industry, philanthropy and HBCUs are poised to jointly develop and execute against plans to further leverage these institutions to further meet the needs of people and to attract additional resources to the state.”
“HBCUs have played a vital and unique role in our nation’s higher education system for more than a century. I will continue to support their mission to ensure students have the tools to help prepare them for success. I applaud Congressman Hill for hosting this event to emphasize the great work of Arkansas’s HBCUs,” said Senator John Boozman, a member of the HBCU Caucus.
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| (Participants listen to education leaders during the 2019 Arkansas HBCU Summit at the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center in Little Rock, Arkansas.) |
