National News - Page 2

UNCF’s Institute for Capacity Building Releases Career Pathways Initiative Report to Elevate HBCU Student Success and Career Outcomes

UNCF’s Institute for Capacity Building (ICB) released the highly anticipated Career Pathways Initiative (CPI) report, providing a data-driven narrative on how historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are redefining student success and aligning education with career outcomes. Fueled by a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., CPI is empowering HBCUs to strengthen the link between academic experiences and the demands of a rapidly evolving workforce. The outcomes speak volumes. Across the program period, 2016 to 2022, participating institutions experienced a 27% increase in median job placement and a 21% increase in median salary when comparing pre- and post-pandemic periods. But CPI’s

Those from the countries in Trump’s travel ban say they’re confused and angry about what comes next

By Suzanne Gamboa, Carmen Sesin, Nicole Acevedo and Orlando Matos Anger and condemnation broke out as families, attorneys and immigrant advocates absorbed the blast from the latest bombshell delivered by the Trump immigration — a travel ban that stops or restricts people from 19 mostly African, Asian and Caribbean countries from entering the U.S. While the Trump administration said the travel ban is meant to keep Americans safe, critics lobbed accusations of discrimination, cruelty, racism, inhumanity and more in response. Meanwhile, the news also elicited confusion over what will happen once the ban goes into effect on Monday. “This travel ban is a racist, bigoted and

U.S. Senator Katie Britt Highlights Alabama’s HBCUs, Discusses Expanding Access to Education with Secretary McMahon

U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) recently attended a Senate Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing with Education Secretary Linda McMahon to discuss the President’s Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) Budget Request for the Department of Education. Senator Britt’s initial line of questioning highlighted the state of Alabama’s 14 historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs): “Alabama has more HBCUs than any other state in the nation. We are proud of the work that is done on those campuses. We know that it helps strengthen student experience, our workforce, our communities, and our future. So if you look across coast

Emboldened and out of government, Elon Musk emerges as a problem for the Trump White House

By Peter Nichols  Just days after he left his powerful position as one of Donald Trump’s closest advisers, Elon Musk is orchestrating a pressure campaign to sink the mammoth tax and spending package that is the centerpiece of the president’s policy agenda. Musk used X, his social media site, on Wednesday to implore Americans to call Congress and urge it to “kill” the bill that Trump hails as “big” and “beautiful.” He also urged lawmakers to rewrite the bill from scratch, putting him squarely at odds with Trump, who had invited him into Cabinet meetings and empowered him to dismantle whole agencies and shrink the government workforce.

Trump issues new travel ban covering a dozen countries

By Asma Khalid President Trump on Wednesday signed a proclamation banning travelers from 12 countries and partially restricting travelers from seven others, starting on Monday, June 9. The White House said the action was needed to protect the United States from terrorist attacks and other national security threats, and said the countries lacked screening and vetting capabilities. The full ban applies to foreign nationals from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. The partial ban applies to people from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela. In a

Atlanta Airport Appoints BWI Head Ricky Smith As New GM

By Aaron Karp Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens appointed Ricky Smith, the longtime CEO of Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), as the new head of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL). Smith has been executive director and CEO of the Maryland Aviation Administration, which runs BWI, since 2015. He will become general manager of ATL on April 2. The hiring of Smith to lead the world’s busiest passenger airport ends a search that started when Dickens dismissed former general manager Balram Bheodari in May 2024 as part of a broader shakeup of the city government, which owns and operates ATL. Jan Lennon, the

Tulsa’s new Black mayor proposes $100M trust to ‘repair’ impact of 1921 Race Massacre

Tulsa’s new mayor proposed a $100 million private trust as part of a reparations plan to give descendants of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre scholarships and housing help in a city-backed bid to make amends for one of the worst racial attacks in U.S. history. The plan by Mayor Monroe Nichols, the first Black mayor of Oklahoma’s second-largest city, would not provide direct cash payments to descendants or the last two centenarian survivors of the attack that killed as many as 300 Black people. He made the announcement at the Greenwood Cultural Center, located in the once-thriving district of North Tulsa

19 Black Americans’ skulls return to New Orleans after 150 years for memorial service

By Curtis Bunn More than 150 years after their heads were severed from their bodies and shipped to Germany for “research,” the craniums of 19 Black people, which were recently returned, will be memorialized Saturday during a sacred ceremony in New Orleans. Dillard University President Monique Guillory said at a news conference Wednesday that the memorial will be “aboutconfronting a dark chapter in medical and scientific history while choosing a path of justice, honor and remembrance.” Those who will be honored died in the city’s Charity Hospital in 1872. Their heads were severed and shipped to Leipzig University in Germany

Attack in Boulder, Colorado, burns 8 people at march for Israeli hostages, officials say; suspect in custody

By Christa Swanson A suspect is in custody after what the FBI is calling a “targeted act of violence” during a peaceful march in support of Israeli hostages at the outdoor Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday. Witnesses said the suspect used a “makeshift flamethrower” and threw Molotov cocktails that burned multiple victims, police and the FBI said. Boulder police say eight people were injured. The suspect was identified as 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman, FBI Special Agent in Charge Mike Michalek said Sunday evening. Soliman was allegedly heard yelling “Free Palestine” during the attack, according to Michalek, who

Trump Proposes Cutting Pell Grants in Order to Avert Shortfall

By  Katherine Knott and Josh Moody The Trump administration wants to lower the maximum Pell Grant by $1,685 for the 2026–27 academic year as the program faces an estimated $2.7 billion shortfall. The proposed cut, detailed in budget documents released Friday evening, would drop the maximum Pell Grant to $5,710, reversing more than a decade of efforts to steadily boost the award, which helps low-income students attend college. The proposed budget keeps overall funding for the Pell Grant level compared with the current budget, adopted in fiscal year 2024. But the cut to the maximum award is necessary, Trump officials wrote, to address “an untenable shortfall.”