by: Annie Glasco
On Monday, U.S. Rep. French Hill and leaders from Arkansas’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities gathered at Philander Smith University to announce additional federal funding of more than $4.2 million for the state’s four Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
The announcement was made during a Monday press conference that comes after the U.S. Department of Education announced last week that more than $174 million in additional funding would be directed to HBCUs across the country, including Arkansas Baptist College, Shorter College, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and Philander Smith University: Arkansas’ four HBCUs, which will receive over $4.2 million in total.
“These awards recognize something that I’ve long believed,” Hill said during the press conference. “That investing in our HBCUs is an investment in our young people, an investment in our workforce, and an investment in the success of our communities.”
A press release from Philander Smith University said that of the estimated $4.2 million in funding, the university would receive $1,139,146 as part of the one-time allocation.
The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff published a similar press release early Tuesday, saying its institution will receive $1.6 million of the fund.
“Today is not really about just a number,” Philander Smith University President Gipson said. “Today is about what that number makes possible. It is about the student who’s the first in her family to go to college. It is about the student who continues to work while they’re going to school. The student whose family dropped them off to this campus with more hope than money.”
Joining Gipson and Hill for the announcement were Dr. Jeffery Norfleet, president of Shorter College in North Little Rock; Dr. Anthony Graham, chancellor of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff; and Dr. Phil Rodgers, executive vice president of Arkansas Baptist College in Little Rock, along with other federal, state and local representatives.
The institutional leaders also used the press conference to highlight the IGNITE HBCU Excellence Act, bipartisan legislation introduced by Hill and Rep. Alma Adams of North Carolina and co-sponsored by members of the Congressional HBCU Caucus, to establish competitive grants for HBCUs to renovate, repair and construct campus facilities.
Beyond that, the leaders also praised the “distinctive role” HBCUs continue to play in creating pathways to higher education, particularly for first-generation students and students with significant financial need, pledging to use the IGNITE HBCU Excellence Act to establish competitive grants for the creation and renovation of classrooms, research laboratories, student housing and broadband infrastructure.
The Philander Smith University release noted that the federal funding announced on Monday is separate from the proposed IGNITE legislation, an ongoing effort to address “longer-term infrastructure and institutional capacity needs” at HBCUs.