RESPONDING TO THE NEEDS OF 

HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND 

UNIVERSITIES IN THE 21ST CENTURY 

JOINT HEARING 

BEFORE THE 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON SELECT EDUCATION 

AND THE 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON 21ST CENTURY COMPETITIVENESS 

OF THE 

COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND 

THE WORKFORCE 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS

SECOND SESSION

HEARING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, FEBRUARY 13, 2002 

Serial No. 107-43 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Education 

and the Workforce

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

WASHINGTON : 2002 

81-196 pdf 

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office 

Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; DC area (202) 512-1800 

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ii

COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE 

JOHN A. BOEHNER, Ohio, Chairman 

THOMAS E. PETRI, Wisconsin GEORGE MILLER, California 

MARGE ROUKEMA, New Jersey DALE E. KILDEE, Michigan 

CASS BALLENGER, North Carolina MAJOR R. OWENS, New York 

PETER HOEKSTRA, Michigan DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey 

HOWARD P. “BUCK” McKEON, California PATSY MINK, Hawaii 

MICHAEL N. CASTLE, Delaware ROBERT E. ANDREWS, New Jersey 

SAM JOHNSON, Texas TIM ROEMER, Indiana 

JAMES C. GREENWOOD, Pennsylvania ROBERT C. “BOBBY” SCOTT, Virginia 

LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, South Carolina LYNN C. WOOLSEY, California 

MARK E. SOUDER, Indiana LYNN N. RIVERS, Michigan 

CHARLIE W. NORWOOD, JR., Georgia RUBEN HINOJOSA, Texas 

BOB SCHAFFER, Colorado CAROLYN McCARTHY, New York 

FRED UPTON, Michigan JOHN F. TIERNEY, Massachusetts 

VAN HILLEARY, Tennessee RON KIND, Wisconsin 

VERNON J. EHLERS, Michigan LORETTA SANCHEZ, California 

THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado HAROLD E. FORD, JR., Tennessee 

ERNEST L. FLETCHER, Kentucky DENNIS KUCINICH, Ohio 

JIM DeMINT, South Carolina DAVID WU, Oregon 

JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia RUSH D. HOLT, New Jersey 

JUDY BIGGERT, Illinois HILDA L. SOLIS, California 

TODD RUSSELL PLATTS, Pennsylvania SUSAN DAVIS, California 

PATRICK J. TIBERI, Ohio BETTY McCOLLUM, Minnesota 

RIC KELLER, Florida 

 TOM OSBORNE, Nebraska 

 JOHN ABNEY CULBERSON, Texas 

Paula Nowakowski, Chief of Staff 

 John Lawrence, Minority Staff Director 

 ____________

 SUBCOMMITTEE ON SELECT EDUCATION 

 PETER HOEKSTRA, Michigan, Chairman

PATRICK TIBERI, Vice Chairman TIM ROEMER, Indiana

THOMAS E. PETRI, Wisconsin ROBERT C. SCOTT, Virginia 

JAMES C. GREENWOOD, Pennsylvania RUSH D. HOLT, New Jersey 

CHARLIE W. NORWOOD, JR., Georgia SUSAN DAVIS, California 

BOB SCHAFFER, Colorado BETTY McCOLLUM, Minnesota 

VAN HILLEARY, Tennessee LORETTA SANCHEZ, California 

TODD RUSSELL PLATTS, Pennsylvania 

 ______________ 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON 21st CENTURY COMPETITIVENESS 

 HOWARD P. “BUCK” McKEON, California, Chairman

JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia, Vice Chairman PATSY MINK, Hawaii

JOHN BOEHNER, Ohio JOHN F. TIERNEY, Massachusetts 

MICHAEL N. CASTLE, Delaware RON KIND, Wisconsin 

SAM JOHNSON, Texas RUSH D. HOLT, New Jersey 

LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, South Carolina DAVID WU, Oregon 

MARK E. SOUDER, Indiana LYNN N. RIVERS, Michigan 

FRED UPTON, Michigan BETTY McCOLLUM, Minnesota 

VERNON J. EHLERS, Michigan ROBERT E. ANDREWS, New Jersey 

TOM OSBORNE, Nebraska RUBEN HINOJOSA, Texas 
iii

Table of Contents 

Table of Contents................................................................................................................................. i 

OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN PETER HOEKSTRA, SUBCOMMITTEE ON 

SELECT EDUCATION, COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE, U.S. 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, WASHINGTON, D.C.............................................................. 2 

OPENING STATEMENT OF RANKING MINORITY MEMBER TIM ROEMER, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON SELECT EDUCATION, COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE 

WORKFORCE, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, WASHINGTON, D.C. ......................... 3 

OPENING STATEMENT OF RANKING MINORITY MEMBER, PATSY T. MINK, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON 21ST CENTURY COMPETITIVENESS, COMMITTEE ON 

EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

WASHINGTON, D.C......................................................................................................................... 4 

OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN HOWARD P. “BUCK” MCKEON, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON 21ST CENTURY COMPETITIVENESS, COMMITTEE ON 

EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

WASHINGTON, D.C......................................................................................................................... 5 

OPENING STATEMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE MAJOR OWENS, COMMITTEE ON 

EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

WASHINGTON, D.C......................................................................................................................... 8 

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM B. DELAUDER, PRESIDENT, DELAWARE STATE 

UNIVERSITY, DOVER, DELAWARE .......................................................................................... 13 

STATEMENT OF SHIRLEY A.R. LEWIS, PRESIDENT, PAINE COLLEGE, AUGUSTA, 

GEORGIA ........................................................................................................................................ 16 

STATEMENT OF FREDERICK S. HUMPHRIES, CEO AND PRESIDENT, NATIONAL 

ASSOCIATION FOR EQUAL OPPORTUNITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION, SILVER SPRING, 

MARYLAND ................................................................................................................................... 18 

STATEMENT OF CHRISTOPHER ELDERS, STUDENT AND RHODES SCHOLAR, 

MOREHOUSE COLLEGE, ATLANTA, GEORGIA ..................................................................... 23 

APPENDIX A – WRITTEN OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN PETER HOEKSTRA, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON SELECT EDUCATION, COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE 

WORKFORCE, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, WASHINGTON, D.C. ....................... 31 
iv

APPENDIX B -- WRITTEN OPENING STATEMENT OF RANKING MINORITY MEMBER, 

PATSY T. MINK, SUBCOMMITTEE ON 21ST CENTURY COMPETITIVENESS, 

COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE, U.S. HOUSE OF 

REPRESENTATIVES, WASHINGTON, D.C. ............................................................................... 37 

APPENDIX C -- WRITTEN OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN HOWARD P. “BUCK” 

MCKEON, SUBCOMMITTEE ON 21ST CENTURY COMPETITIVENESS, COMMITTEE ON 

EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

WASHINGTON, D.C....................................................................................................................... 43 

APPENDIX D -- STATEMENT OF WILLIAM B. DELAUDER, PRESIDENT, DELAWARE 

STATE UNIVERSITY, DOVER, DELAWARE............................................................................. 49 

APPENDIX E -- STATEMENT OF SHIRLEY A.R. LEWIS, PRESIDENT, PAINE COLLEGE, 

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA ................................................................................................................... 57 

APPENDIX F -- STATEMENT OF FREDERICK S. HUMPHRIES, CEO AND PRESIDENT, 

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR EQUAL OPPORTUNITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION, 

SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND .................................................................................................... 75 

APPENDIX G -- STATEMENT OF CHRISTOPHER ELDERS, STUDENT AND RHODES 

SCHOLAR, MOREHOUSE COLLEGE, ATLANTA, GEORGIA................................................. 91 

Table of Indexes................................................................................................................................ 96
1

HEARING ON RESPONDING TO THE NEEDS OF 

HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES 

IN THE 21ST CENTURY 

____________________________________________

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2002 

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON SELECT EDUCATION, 

JOINT WITH 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON 21ST CENTURY COMPETITIVENESS, 

COMMITTEEON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE, 

WASHINGTON, D.C.

The subcommittees met, pursuant to notice, at 10:45 a.m. in Room 2175, Rayburn House 

Office Building, Hon. Peter Hoekstra [chairman of the Subcommittee on Select Education] 

presiding.

 Present: Representatives Hoekstra, Tiberi, Norwood, Hilleary, Roemer, Scott, Holt, Davis, 

McCollum, Sanchez, McKeon, Isakson, Castle, Mink, Kind, Wu, and Hinojosa. 

 Also Present: Representatives Owens, Payne, and Ford. 

 Staff Present: George Conant, Professional Staff Member; Patrick Lyden, Professional 

Staff Member; Krisann Pearce, Deputy Director of Education and Human Resources Policy; 

Deborah L. Samantar, Committee Clerk/Intern Coordinator; Kathleen Smith, Professional Staff 

Member; Holli Traud, Legislative Assistant; Heather Valentine, Press Secretary; Cheryl Johnson, 

Minority Counsel; James Kvall, Minority Legislative Associate/Education; Maggie McDow, 

Minority Legislative Associate/Education; Joe Novotny, Minority Staff Assistant/Education; and 

Brendan O'Neil, Minority Legislative Associate/Education. 
2

OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN PETER HOEKSTRA, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON SELECT EDUCATION, COMMITTEE ON 

EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE, U.S. HOUSE OF 

REPRESENTATIVES, WASHINGTON, D.C.

Chairman Hoekstra. The subcommittees will come to order. 

 We're meeting today to hear testimony on the needs of historically black colleges and 

universities in the 21st century. Under committee rule 12 (b), opening statements are limited to the 

chairman and the ranking minority member on the subcommittees. Therefore, if other members 

have statements, they will be included in the hearing record. With that, I ask unanimous consent 

that the record remain open 14 days to allow members to insert extraneous material into the official 

hearing record. Without objection, so ordered. 

 I understand that some members of the panel have a commitment earlier than what we had 

expected, or we hadn't expected that we would have two votes at 10:00 that would lead us to 10:45. 

 So let me abbreviate my statement, and I will submit the entire statement for the record. 

 This has been a very interesting program and a very interesting project for me to work on. 

 I had the opportunity to visit some of the historically black colleges, working with 

Congressman Watts on exploring the different issues associated with historically black colleges, 

and some of the opportunities associated with historically black colleges. 

 There has been a commitment in this Congress to address the issues, the concerns, and to 

create some opportunities. It is a bipartisan commitment. It is something that is also shared with 

the White House. 

 We have significantly increased funding for historically black colleges, but I think we all 

recognize that this is about much more than just money. 

 This is making sure that we help provide every young person in America who wants to 

receive a higher education, the opportunity to achieve. 

 With that, I will just submit my opening statement for the record. 

 I will yield to Mr. Roemer. 

WRITTEN OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN PETER HOEKSTRA, SUBCOMMITTEE 

ON SELECT EDUCATION, COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE, U.S. 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, WASHINGTON, D.C. – SEE APPENDIX A 
3

OPENING STATEMENT OF RANKING MINORITY MEMBER TIM 

ROEMER, SUBCOMMITTEE ON SELECT EDUCATION, COMMITTEE ON 

EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE, U.S. HOUSE OF 

REPRESENTATIVES, WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Mr. Roemer. I thank my chairman and thank him for calling the hearing this morning and look 

forward to our witnesses testifying today. 

 I want to thank Major Owens, Donald Payne, Harold Ford, and Alcee Hastings, members of 

the black caucus, who join us today, Bobby Scott, on the committee, my members, Patsy Mink and 

Ron Kind and Loretta Sanchez, as well, too. 

 America's historically black colleges and universities have provided millions of Americans 

from all backgrounds with rich and enduring higher education opportunities. 

 They have developed innovative academic strategies, supported cutting edge research, and 

launched the careers of millions of today's leaders, including scientists, doctors, teachers, lawyers, 

artists, entrepreneurs, and community and religious leaders. 

 Today these institutions face new challenges as they prepare a new generation of Americans 

for the 21st Century. 

 To ensure that all Americans have access to high quality education, we must ensure that all 

students have the financial assistance and support to start and stay in college, and we must ensure 

that all higher education institutions have the resources to perform vital research, succeed, and 

prosper.

 I have joined a 119 of my colleagues in sponsoring H.R. 1162, the 21st Century Higher 

Education Act, introduced by my ranking member, George Miller. 

 This act will substantially expand college opportunities through student aid and early 

intervention efforts, double resources to strengthen the infrastructure of minority-serving 

institutions, and harness the strengths of minority-serving institutions to prepare teachers and the 

high tech workforce of tomorrow. 

 I was disappointed to see key parts of President Bush's fiscal year 2003 budget. I want to 

refer to the graph over here and the chart. 

 Not only did it include the smallest increase in direct aid to HBCUs in recent years, it also 

level funded many programs that provide valuable dollars to HBCUs and indirectly through student 

aid.
4

 We look at the graph and we see supplemental education opportunity grants flat funded; 

work study programs, flat funded, no increase; Perkins loans programs, flat funded, no increase; 

leveraging educational assistant partnerships, which encourage states to provide college 

scholarships to low income students, eliminated, cut by $67 million; Gear-Up, flat funded; TRIO, 

flat funded. 

 Colleges cannot survive if students do not have adequate resources to be able to attend 

them, and I was very disappointed in the low level of funding for some of these programs. 

 I hope that this hearing and others like it can convince the administration that it is important 

for HBCUs not only to increase direct aid to HBCUs, but that it is also important to provide more 

opportunities for HBCU students by increasing student aid, as well. 

 At this time, I would like to yield some of my time to the gentle lady from Hawaii, Mrs. 

Mink.

Mrs. Mink. Thank you very much. I ask unanimous consent that my entire statement may be 

entered into the record at this point. 

Chairman Hoekstra. Without objection. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF RANKING MINORITY MEMBER, PATSY T. 

MINK, SUBCOMMITTEE ON 21ST CENTURY COMPETITIVENESS, 

COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE, U.S. HOUSE OF 

REPRESENTATIVES, WASHINGTON, D.C.

Mrs. Mink. I would like to join my colleagues in welcoming our witnesses. 

 I very much appreciate the opportunity to hear about the needs of historically black colleges 

and universities, and to note what your goals and challenges are, and hope that your remarks may 

challenge the Congress to do more with respect to these issues. 

 The Congress will be turning its attention to re-authorization of the Higher Education Act 

next year and your input will be extremely valuable. 

 So the time that you have taken from your own personal schedules is very deeply 

appreciated by the members of this committee. 

 We certainly are going to be relying upon your knowledge and your experience to guide us, 

to make sure that the needs of the historically black colleges are attended to. 

 As my colleague has noted, one of the real distressful notes that we have had to experience 

the past few days is that the president's budget has so woefully neglected the needs of our students, 
5

particularly the low-income students. 

 As my colleague has noted, there has been no increase in the level of funding on the very 

important special programs that are directed to low-income students. The Gear-Up, TRIO, Leap, all 

of these programs have not been increased at all. 

 So we have a great deal of work to undertake and must meet this challenge, not only in this 

committee and the re-authorization, but to fight the appropriations battle in those committees as we 

conclude our work this year. 

Again, I thank you very, very much for coming and we will be looking forward to your 

testimony. 

 Thank you very much. 

WRITTEN OPENING STATEMENT OF RANKING MINORITY MEMBER, PATSY T. MINK, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON 21ST CENTURY COMPETITIVENESS, COMMITTEE ON 

EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – SEE APPENDIX B 

Mr. Roemer. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

 I know we have a lunch for them. So I yield back the balance of my time. 

Chairman Hoekstra. That's awful generous. I think you used it all. 

Mr. Roemer. Did I use it all? 

Chairman Hoekstra. I think so. Thanks. 

 I would now like to recognize my colleague from California, the Chairman of the 

Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness, Mr. McKeon, for purposes of making an opening 

statement. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN HOWARD P. “BUCK” MCKEON, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON 21ST CENTURY COMPETITIVENESS, COMMITTEE 

ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE, U.S. HOUSE OF 

REPRESENTATIVES, WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Mr. McKeon. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good morning. 
6

 I want to welcome our witnesses here today and thank you for taking the time to appear 

before our subcommittees. 

 You have direct experience with the day-to-day issues facing historically black colleges and 

universities. We in Washington need to hear your views and learn from your experiences if we are 

going to be able to help you improve the education that your students so deserve. 

 I want to thank the gentleman from Michigan, Chairman Hoekstra, for undertaking this 

series of hearings in his subcommittee. 

He has opened an important dialogue and students across the nation will ultimately benefit 

from your efforts, Chairman Hoekstra. 

 When we re-authorized the Higher Education Act in 1998, we focused our efforts on three 

important objectives; making college more affordable, simplifying the student financial aid system, 

and stressing the academic quality for our students. 

I believe we were largely successful in these goals and I have continued to keep them in 

mind as my subcommittee has addressed issues affecting higher education. 

 Since that time, we have had a number of successes in improving access to education for 

disadvantaged students. 

 We have increased the maximum Pell grant award every year since 1995. For fiscal year 

2002, the maximum Pell grant is at a record high of $4,000. 

 We have enacted legislation to ensure that student loans continue to be available to all who 

need financial assistance, and we reduced the interest rate paid by borrowers to historically low 

levels.

 We have increased support for programs, such as college work-study, which now receives 

in excess of $1.2 million per year, and the TRIO programs, which now receive in excess of $800 

million per year. 

 However, the job is not done. According to the Department of Education, minority students 

attend college at a rate that is 10 percent below that of their peers and complete college at a rate 

that is almost 20 percent below that of their peers. We must close this gap. 

 I realize that HBCUs face some unique challenges. In many instances, their campuses date 

to the 1800s and their facilities oftentimes are ill suited to accommodate new information 

technology.

 They face increasing competition for faculty and staff, as well as increased competition in 

fund-raising. 
7

 Yet, as the price of a college education spirals across the country, HBCUs manage to keep 

their tuition relatively low. 

 Despite their unique needs, HBCUs have enjoyed some remarkable successes. For 

example, they are responsible for producing 28 percent of all bachelor's degrees earned by AfricanAmericans. HBCUs produce 15 percent of all master's degrees and 17 percent of all first 

professional degrees earned by African-Americans. 

 We hope to work with you to build on these successes and do our part to help you meet the 

needs you face. 

 Finally, I would like to draw your attention to the Fed Up initiative that will reduce the 

regulatory burdens faced by each of you, so that you can focus your time on your primary mission: 

educating students. 

 I am pleased to report that Secretary Paige has initiated negotiated rule-making sessions in 

support of Fed Up, and I urge all of you to be involved. 

 Later this year, I will introduce legislation to remove some of the statutory hurdles to 

regulatory reform, and I will need your support to help gain its enactment. 

 I look forward to continuing to work together to accomplish our shares goals and I look 

forward to hearing from our witnesses here today. 

 Thank you. 

WRITTEN OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN HOWARD P. “BUCK” MCKEON, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON 21ST CENTURY COMPETITIVENESS, COMMITTEE ON 

EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – SEE APPENDIX C 

Chairman Hoekstra. Thank you, Mr. McKeon. I now recognize the ranking minority member of 

the Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness, Mrs. Mink, or her designee, for an opening 

statement. 

Mrs. Mink. Thank you very much. I am pleased to yield such time as he may consume to my 

distinguished colleague, Major Owens. 
8

OPENING STATEMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE MAJOR OWENS, 

COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE, U.S. HOUSE OF 

REPRESENTATIVES, WASHINGTON, D.C. 

Mr. Owens. Thank you very much. I want to thank the members and the chairmen of the 

subcommittees for allowing me to appear here. Thank you very much, Mrs. Mink. 

 I have a written statement that I will submit for the record. 

 I want to first congratulate the ranking members for holding this hearing. I want to also 

welcome the presidents and the representatives of the historically black colleges and universities. 

 We are quite happy about the bipartisan effort that is going to go forward to make certain 

that these colleges and universities receive the kind of recognition that they deserve. 

 I speak on behalf of myself as the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus Education 

Task Force, and I speak for the chairperson of the Congressional Black Caucus, Eddie Bernice 

Johnson, and all of the members, many of whom would liked to have been here, but were unable to 

due to time constraints. 

Mr. Chairman, the history of bipartisan cooperation and support with historically black 

colleges and universities has been a model of the kind of bipartisan effort we should maintain 

across the board in education. 

 Education should be as bipartisan as foreign affairs and, certainly, since the 1986 

legislation, which was the first distinct recognition of historically black colleges in federal 

legislation, since that legislation was passed, we have had the consistent support of both parties. 

 Even when our parties were most contentious about education in 1994 and 1995, no one 

from either side ever proposed cutting the Title III-B, which supports historically black colleges 

and universities, and that kind of support has continued until today. 

 We have raised the argument then that these institutions are unique in the constellation of 

3,000 or more higher education institutions in the United States, this slightly more than a 100-110 

colleges and universities is a small grouping. 

But they make a very special contribution. In order to exist, they have to overcome 

overwhelming obstacles. Many of those obstacles related to financing, since they had no support 

from governments for a long time, and they had to exist on improvisations of all kinds. 

 Many of the early graduates, of course, were very poor; as yours truly, I came from a family 

of eight. My father never earned more than minimum wage at a factory job and often he was laid 

off.
9

And even when the Ford Foundation gave me an all-expenses-paid scholarship to 

Morehouse College, paid for the books, everything, my father and mother had to work very hard to 

scrape together the train fare from Memphis to Atlanta, or the other slight expenses that they had. 

 That kind of poverty, I assure you, still exists, and many of these institutions are able to 

bridge that gap, and that is one unique contribution they continue to make, because many of our 

historically black colleges and universities are nationally renowned institutions. 

 Some have four or five applications for every place that they have, and don't have to 

struggle necessarily for their financial existence as hard as the former institutions had to struggle.

But they are still unique and they have a role to play in terms of the population that they educate, a 

population that we very much need. 

 We need diversity in all our professions, from the CIA and the FBI to teachers, information 

technology workers, nurses, people who can clean up anthrax and specialists who understand and 

can clean up anthrax and take care of bio terrorism. Across the board, we need more brainpower, 

and that brainpower can come from all sectors and certainly the sector served by the historically 

black colleges and universities capable of producing some people who are able to handle some very 

unique and sensitive jobs. 

 At this point, I would like to yield the remainder of my time to my colleague from New 

Jersey, Mr. Donald Payne. 

Chairman Hoekstra. I think the gentleman's time has expired, but, Mr. Payne, if you can keep it 

brief. Is that all right? 

Mr. Payne. I will be extremely brief. I think that my colleague, Major Owens, really, as a product 

of historically black colleges, has certainly covered it adequately, and for all of the previous 

speakers on both sides of the aisle, has made it very clear that we are here to acknowledge the 

importance. 

 I think it is very interesting, being that this is Black History Month, that many of the leaders 

of our society from slavery to the present were encouraged as we moved forward and educated at 

historically black colleges. 

 So I am here to support historically black colleges. Many students from New Jersey attend 

historically black colleges. 

 I wanted to attend it myself, but I couldn't afford the train fare from New Jersey. It's more 

than it is from Memphis to the south. 

 So I stayed up north, but I certainly know the contributions of historically black colleges.

Many of my nephews and nieces went to Hampton and other great institutions there. 
10

 So I am proud to be here, and congratulations on what you have done in the past and what 

you will continue to do in the future. 

 With that, I will yield back the balance of my time. 

Chairman Hoekstra. I want to congratulate my colleague, Mr. Roemer, in getting four opening 

statements into the agenda today. Nice work. 

 Well, thank you. Several of the witnesses are from the same states as our members on this 

panel, and I want to give the members the opportunity to introduce their friends or acquaintances. 

 I would like to recognize the gentleman from Delaware, Mr. Castle. 

Mr. Castle. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank you and Chairman McKeon for calling 

this important hearing to examine the changing needs of our historically black colleges and 

universities.

 I am particularly pleased that we will hear from my friend, the distinguished President of 

Delaware State University, Dr. William B. DeLauder, on this topic. 

 I am going to embarrass him by reading a little bit about him here. 

 The education of minority students in Delaware has come a long way since 1891, when the 

General Assembly established a state college for colored students as a separate educational facility 

for African-Americans. 

 At the time, the college offered only five courses of study. Today the university is a center 

for teaching research and public service and its purposes and objectives have changed with the 

times. 

 Under the guidance of Dr. DeLauder, the university, now known as Delaware State 

University, has increased the number of faculty with doctorates from 44 to 72 percent, and has 

implemented new graduate programs in biology, chemistry, and physics. 

 Delaware State was the first institution of higher education in Delaware to achieve national 

accreditation of its teacher education program, closely followed by the accreditation of business 

and certification of hospitality management. 

 This year marks Dr. DeLauder's 16th year as president, we are both getting older, and his 

tenure has been characterized by remarkable achievements within the university and our state. 

Dr. DeLauder serves as chairman of the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle 

States Association of Schools and Colleges, a member of the board of directors for the Delaware 

State Chamber of Commerce, and the board of trustees of the Delaware Symphony Association. 
11

 He also serves on numerous other committees and commissions, focusing on the 

enhancement of institutions of higher education, too numerous, I'm afraid, to mention here. 

 Prior to his appointment to Delaware State University, Dr. DeLauder served as dean of the 

College of Arts and Sciences at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro. 

 Although Dr. DeLauder has announced that he and his wife Ramel will retire in 2004, I 

know he will continue to make an important contribution to the people in the community he calls 

home. 

I am, therefore, pleased to personally welcome him to our committee. I am sure his lifetime 

of experience in education will be helpful as we consider ways to better serve our historically black 

colleges and universities and our students. 

 We thank you for your service to Delaware and to the country. 

Chairman Hoekstra. Thank you, Mr. Castle. We will introduce the whole panel and for that, I 

will yield to my colleague from Georgia, Mr. Norwood, for another introduction. 

Mr. Norwood. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. Chairman and my colleagues on this great committee, it is my distinct pleasure to 

reintroduce to you Dr. Shirley Lewis. 

 I say reintroduce because Dr. Lewis testified before the Subcommittee on Post-Secondary 

Education, I think now, five years ago. It's hard to believe it's been five years, Shirley. 

Mr. Chairman, Dr. Lewis is president of Paine College, in Augusta, Georgia. She assumed 

that position in July of 1994 and in doing so became the first female president of Paine College 

since it was founded in 1882. 

Dr. Lewis has previously worked as professor in a number of colleges and universities 

around the country, including Vanderbilt, Meharry College, and the University of Pennsylvania. 

She earned her undergraduate and master's degrees from Berkeley and her Ph.D. from Stanford. 

Dr. Lewis is the author of many articles on higher education, the language arts, historically black 

colleges, and teacher training. 

 But I'll tell you, as impressive as Dr. Lewis' academic credentials and accomplishments are, 

what has always really impressed me about this lady is her commitment to our local Augusta 

community. It seems that there is hardly a civic, service, or religious organization in Augusta, 

Georgia that Dr. Lewis does not belong to and how she has all the time, I will never know. She is 

committed to improving our hometown of Augusta, and we who live in Augusta are great 

beneficiaries of her hard work. 
12

Mr. Chairman and members of this committee, I regard Dr. Lewis as a friend and believe 

you will do very well to listen closely to her comments. 

 I thank you very much for the time, and, Shirley, I am just very pleased you are here today. 

 Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman Hoekstra. Thank you, Mr. Norwood. 

 I would like to take the opportunity to introduce Dr. Frederick S. Humphries. 

Dr. Humphries is the president and CEO of the National Association for Equal Opportunity 

in Higher Education. 

Previously, Dr. Humphries served as president of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical 

University and Tennessee State University. 

 He has received several honors of distinction, including Black Engineer of the Year 

Lifetime Achievement Award and the Educator of the Year Award from the National Society of 

Black Engineers. 

Dr. Humphries has a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh and 

holds honorary doctorates from numerous universities. 

Dr. Humphries, welcome to you. 

 Then I, again, would like to yield to another colleague from Georgia, Mr. Isakson, for 

purposes of an introduction. 

Mr. Isakson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thanks for calling this hearing. 

 It is a privilege for me today, as one born in the City of Atlanta, representing part of that 

great city in my congressional district, to acknowledge what most of you know, and that is the City 

of Atlanta has the highest concentration of historically black institutions of higher learning than any 

city in the United States of America. 

 One of those institutions, Morehouse College, as we know, one of our distinguished 

members, Mr. Owens, is an alumnus, and it is my privilege today to introduce a distinguished 

student from Morehouse College, Mr. Christopher Elders. 

Mr. Elders is a senior, majoring in political science at Morehouse. Most importantly, he has 

been named a Harry S. Truman Scholar, which is a very prestigious and distinguished honor, and, 

in the year 2002, has been named a Rhodes Scholar. 
13

 He is presently the deputy executive director of the Morehouse Student Government 

Association and held the elected post of student senator from 1998 to the year 2000. 

 In September of this year, Mr. Elders will study international relations at Oxford University 

in England, following which he will seek a degree in law, and finally hoping to work for the State 

Department of the United States of America. 

 We welcome Mr. Elders today. 

Chairman Hoekstra. Thank you. Thanks to the panel and thanks to my colleagues. 

 As I think the panel can see, we have a great degree of interest in the topic, and we 

appreciate you being here. 

Dr. DeLauder, we will begin with you. Welcome. 

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM B. DELAUDER, PRESIDENT, DELAWARE 

STATE UNIVERSITY, DOVER, DELAWARE 

Mr. DeLauder. Welcome, and good morning. Mr. Chairman and distinguished and honorable 

members of the Joint Subcommittees on Select Education and 21st Century Competitiveness, ladies 

and gentlemen, I deem it an honor and a pleasure to have this opportunity to share some thoughts 

on the invaluable role that historically black colleges and universities play in educating America's 

people and provide some recommendations on the needs of HBCUs, needs that will enhance our 

ability to produce competent graduates for the 21st century. 

 I wish to acknowledge the support of my Congressman, my friend and former governor, 

Mike Castle, who very ably represents the people of Delaware and who has been a longtime 

supporter of Delaware State University, both as a former governor and now as a member of 

Congress.

I thank you, Congressman Castle, for your generous introduction and for recommending 

that I appear before this important joint subcommittee hearing. 

 Delaware State University is one of the nation's 107 historically black colleges and 

universities and one of the 17, 1890 land grant universities. 

 DSU is a comprehensive university, with a broad range of degree programs that include the 

various disciplines within the liberal arts and sciences and professional programs, including 

agriculture, business, nursing, social work, education, and airway science. 

 We offer the only social work program within the state of Delaware, with the Bachelor of 

Social Work and Masters of Social Work degree programs. We are the only HBCU that offers an 

airway science program and also provides its own flight training. This program has been nationally 

recognized because of its contribution to increase the number of minority pilots within the United 
14

States.

 Since their inception, the nation's HBCUs have been the major producer of AfricanAmerican graduates at the bachelor's level. This was most recently documented by data published 

in the magazine entitled Black Issues in Higher Education. 

 The magnitude of the HBCU contribution to educating African-Americans can be seen 

further from the fact that only about 4 percent of the approximately 2,400 four-year institutions are 

HBCUs, but these institutions, in 1999, produced about 24 percent of African-American graduates 

with four-year degrees. 

 Furthermore, most of the African-American leaders within this nation have been educated 

at HBCUs. 

 The track record of the nation's HBCUs is impressive, but the challenge of eliminating the 

educational attainment gap between African-Americans and white Americans remains. According 

to data published by the U.S. Department of Education, African-Americans have about a tenpercentage point lower rate of college attendance and about a 17 to 19-percentage point lower 

college completion rate as compared to whites. 

 This inequity can best be addressed by increased production by both HBCUs and 

traditionally white institutions. 

 The capability of the nation's HBCUs can be increased provided that certain federal support 

is sustained and pressing needs are addressed. 

 In my opinion, the number one need is an effective financial aid system. The Pell grant is 

the basic grant program for needy students, but the current maximum level is not sufficient to either 

reduce the average loan students must take or to reduce the unmet financial aid need. Many low 

and middle income students still struggle to pay for their education because of the magnitude of the 

unmet financial aid need. On my campus, for example, the Pell grant would have to be raised by 

about $1,500 to eliminate the unmet financial aid need. 

 More funds are also needed for the SEOG program and for work-study programs. Financial 

aid is one of the major deterrents to the lack of persistence of many students in institutions of 

higher education. 

 The TRIO programs are well-established and effective programs, but the level of support 

must be substantially raised to have the maximum impact. For example, every HBCU should have 

programs in talent search and upward bound and in student support services, and this is only 

possible if funding is substantially increased. 

 The Title III-B programs are the essential programs in support of the continue development 

of HBCUs. It is commendable that the president has recommended an increase in the Title III 

program that support HBCUs, but this increase does not translate into a significant increase for the 

average HBCU. I urge your continued support of these programs and ask that you consider an even 
15

greater increase in the funding levels. 

 HBCUs are major producers of teachers for America's schools, and that capacity must not 

be diminished. In fact, it should be enhanced to increase productivity. Arbitrary accountability 

measures that rely strictly on testing without a correlation with effective teaching must be avoided. 

Any program that results in a decrease in the number of HBCUs that have teacher education 

programs will only exacerbate an already critical shortage of African-American teachers. We must 

strengthen our teacher education programs, not eliminate them. 

 The maintenance of existing facilities and the need to construct modern facilities are 

continuing challenges for any HBCUs, especially for private HBCUs. A major investment in 

facilities for HBCUs is needed to address this problem. 

 I recognize, also, that there are many programs that support HBCUs that are not under the 

jurisdiction of this committee, but I will mention them here in the context of the overall needs of 

HBCUs. Programs such as MBRS, MARC, and the Research Centers of Excellence of NIH 

programs within the National Science Foundation that support science and engineering, particularly 

those within the educational directorate programs within other agencies that support science and 

engineering, to include NASA, the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, et cetera, 

and support through the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the 1890 land grant universities, are all 

essential for maintaining and enhancing the HBCUs' significant role in producing AfricanAmerican graduates. 

 Continued increased support of HBCUs is an investment in America's future. An educated 

person is more likely to be an asset to society rather than a liability. 

 HBCUs are committed to providing access and opportunities for success for all students, 

particularly African-American students. 

 In order for the United States to remain competitive, she must educate more and more of 

her people. HBCUs play a major role in achieving this objective. I hope that you share my view 

and that you will support increased funding for the nation's HBCUs. 

 I thank you for giving me this opportunity to appear before this distinguished committee, 

and may God bless each of you. 

Chairman Hoekstra. Thank you very much. Dr. Lewis? 

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM B. DELAUDER, PRESIDENT, DELAWARE STATE 

UNIVERSITY, DOVER, DELAWARE – SEE APPENDIX D 
16

 STATEMENT OF SHIRLEY A.R. LEWIS, PRESIDENT, PAINE COLLEGE, 

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA 

Ms. Lewis. Thank you to the Chairman, to all of the members on the panel, and to my 

Congressman, Charlie Norwood, I want to give you thanks and praise for having this session. 

 I want to bring greetings to you from the Paine College family and my personal invitation to 

come and visit Paine College, one of our sister historically black colleges and universities. I know 

that you will feel welcome, but the additional thing that I am sure that you will feel immediately is 

our sense of mission. We are indeed schools with a very special goal of providing leaders and 

persons who will serve not only the African-American community, but also the nation and the 

world.

 You can tell the mission of Paine College by just looking at the history and then looking at 

the present. We were founded by a partnership of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, now 

Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, and the Methodist Episcopal Church South, now the United 

Methodist Church. The former slave who became a bishop in the CME Church, Lucius Holsey, 

went throughout Virginia and the state of Georgia collecting funds for the school and came back 

with $8.85, collected penny by penny from the freedmen. His partner in this goal, Atticus 

Haygood, from the Methodist Episcopal Church South, brought $2,000. But at this particular point 

in time, 1882, the $8.85 probably exceeded, in value and effort, the 2,000. 

 But Paine Institute was begun and has evolved over time to a full-fledged liberal arts 

college, fully accredited, with five academic divisions, and a wonderful legacy of achievement 

among its alumni. 

 Mack Gipson, the first African-American to obtain the Ph.D. in geology in the United 

States, who was a NASA consultant; Shirley McBay, the first African-American Dean at MIT; 

internationally acclaimed novelist Frank Yerby; Bishop Woodie White of the United Methodist 

Church; Nathaniel Linsey, Bishop of the CME Church; Dr. Charles Larke, presently acceded as the 

first African-American head of the school district in Augusta; and 10 college presidents. 

 Our outstanding faculty exceeds in their disciplines and serves as mentors. In the 

meantime, if they do not yet have their doctorate degree, they seek funds to pursue that degree. 

 They conduct research in their spare time and many of our faculty has been able to take 

advantage of the Fullbright-Hays summer study program. Some of have studied in Israel, 

Morocco, Egypt, and elsewhere. 

 Through a combination of direction, instruction, faith, and expectation, Paine College has 

produced a number of outstanding recent graduates and a number of students still enrolled, who 

struggle to continue on that path of achievement. 

 In the Class of 2001, among our graduates was a student who came to us from the state of 

Washington, fully dependent upon financial aid, who had the drive and the stick-to-it-iveness to 

graduate summa cum laude, and was accepted with full funding to the Ph.D. program in English at 
17

Penn State University. 

 Our valedictorian, a local woman, graduated with having been accepted to three graduate 

schools with full funding, University of Kansas Medical School, Virginia Commonwealth 

University, where she went to the Ph.D. program, and the Medical College of Georgia, where she is 

pursuing a Ph.D. in microbiology. 

 And we have a number of students with those kinds of outstanding, wonderful stories, but 

we have some students enrolled who are probably going to get there, but are still struggling. 

 One of my most touching stories is of a young man from Augusta, whose parents are dead, 

who was adopted by a local church. Someone at that church was a Paine alum and told him to get 

in the Upward Bound program and at Upward Bound; he decided he liked being on a college 

campus. So he eventually enrolled at Paine College. He graduated last year, also. He graduated 

with honors, voted outstanding student of the year, and is currently applying to graduate school, 

after working for one year for me. 

 And then I have a student who we would call from the hip-hop generation. That's what he 

looks like, pants kind of low, hat kind of acey-deucey, and big tee shirt. He's from Los Angeles. 

 I met him in the cafeteria the other day and he said, `you know, when I first came to Paine 

College, I didn't like it here. It's too slow. I don't like living in the country.'' See, in Augusta, we 

don't think we live in the country. If you're from L.A., maybe you think that's the country. He said 

he was going to leave and go to some other big city school, until one night, as he decided to go out 

to a dance, and went to his closet, he realized he could put on any color he wanted to, because in 

some cities in America, you can only wear the color of your gang or your neighborhood and if you 

wear the wrong color, you might even be killed. 

 He said he looked in the closet and he realized he could wear any color. He wasn't worried 

about his life, and he decided he would stay at Paine College. 

 So we have many missions and many people of various backgrounds and experiences. The 

thing that we do believe is that you can make it from there. 

 The students who attend Paine College are 90 percent dependent on federal financial aid.

We are very dependent on success and support from things like the Pell grant. Even though we try 

to provide every student who qualifies with total financial aid packages, we are not able to do so. 

 So we cover our students at about 81 percent. Almost every student at Paine College is 

working and taking loans, and most of our students, by the time they graduate, after four years or 

five years, in some cases, are $20,000 in debt. Yet they stay at Paine College because they believe 

they can make it from there. 

 So we need many things. Our goals include increased financial aid and scholarship support.

Our endowment has increased from $7 million to $10 million. We are excited that it is moving in 

the right direction, but $10 million is no endowment for a school depending on yield to meet its 
18

goals.

 So we are searching ways in which to increase our endowment. We look for faculty 

development funds. Our faculty earn less than some schoolteachers who teach in Augusta in the 

public school system in some cases, and as these faculty retire and we attempt to recruit others, we 

will need money to increase faculty salaries and to help faculty go on and complete their doctorate 

degrees.

 We are looking for your support for increased funding for Pell grants, for SEOG, for 

endowment funds, for way to increase the TRIO program, the Title III-B, strengthening historically 

black colleges at the undergraduate level and at the graduate level, and for the Thurgood Marshall 

Support Program. 

 I know that with your assistance in these ways, that we will be able to meet our goals. 

 And there is one other thing that I request from you, which you are doing, and that is that, 

indeed, in addition to the funding that we request, we request your continued support and 

interpretation about our mission and our contributions, and I know that together we will succeed. 

 Thank you. 

STATEMENT OF SHIRLEY A.R. LEWIS, PRESIDENT, PAINE COLLEGE, AUGUSTA, 

GEORGIA – SEE APPENDIX E 

Chairman Hoekstra. Thank you very much. Dr. Humphries. 

STATEMENT OF FREDERICK S. HUMPHRIES, CEO AND PRESIDENT, 

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR EQUAL OPPORTUNITY IN HIGHER 

EDUCATION, SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND 

Mr. Humphries. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and other distinguished members of the joint 

subcommittee, and Mr. Owens and Mr. Payne. 

 I would like to say to the committee that you are all my Congresspersons. You represent 

the schools that are members of NAFEO across the spectrum, Indiana, New York, New Jersey, 

Illinois, California, and all of the Southern and Southeastern states. 

 So my Congresspersons here today, you are my elected representatives. 

 I am Frederick Humphries, the chief executive officer and president of the National 

Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education. 
19

 As the president and chief executive officer of the National Association for Equal 

Opportunity in Higher Education, I would like for you to know that our membership is 118 

institutions of higher education, and they are all of the historical black colleges and universities, 

both private and public, and some 16 predominantly black institutions, which are basically northern 

and western institutions. 

 Our membership includes York College in New York City, Medgar Evers College in New 

York City, over to Compton Community College in Los Angeles, California. 

 In Chicago, we have Chicago State University as a member institution, and in the City of 

Detroit, we have Harris Business School and Wayne County Community College, and, soon, 

Wayne State University shall be a member of NAFEO. 

 And that is by the shifting sands of our demography, we now have predominantly black 

institutions almost all over the country, and they are members of the National Association for Equal 

Opportunity in Higher Education. 

 But even more notably, I am proud to say that 45 years ago, I obtained my baccalaureate 

degree from a historically black university, Florida A&M University, and then eventually had the 

honor to serve for almost 27 years well, not almost, but 27 years, as president of what I consider to 

be two of the most distinguished historically black colleges and universities in our nation; 

Tennessee State University I served for ten and a half years in Nashville, Tennessee, and my alma 

mater, Florida A&M University, where I just left the presidency on December 31, 2001. 

 There is only one black college, only one college in America, that has consistently whipped 

Harvard at anything, and that was Florida A&M University. In America, the number one slot for 

the recruitment of National Merit Scholars and National Achievement Scholars has always been the 

honors of Harvard. That was the case until 1992, when, for the first time in America, an institution 

attracted more National Achievement Scholars than Harvard University. That university made 

national headline news. It was the front page of the life section of the USA Today, and that 

university was Florida A&M University. 

 Florida A&M University whipped Harvard in 1992, 1995, and 1997, and Harvard tied 

Florida A&M University for National Achievement Scholars in the year 2000. 

 And this past fall, Harvard, again, was number one. They recruited 55 National 

Achievement Scholars and Florida A&M recruited 52. We would have beaten them, but we gave 

out our money. 

 The only school in Florida, Florida A&M University is the University of Florida in Florida, 

the only school to achieve national distinction is Florida A&M University, which was voted in 

1997-98 by Time Magazine as College of the Year, on national television, CNN, and when the 

announcer announced that we were the College of the Year, he turned to his co-anchor and he said 

``Does that mean that Florida A&M University is the best college in America?'' And then he 

looked at me and he asked, “Does that mean, sir, that you are better than Harvard?'' I said, “Yes, 
20

sir, for this year.'' 

 So we won the Time Magazine Prints Review College of the Year. 

 It is with those thoughts in mind that I would like to offer the following comments.

Looking back on some of the roads I have traveled, it is clear to me that much of the success and 

achievement that has occurred within the HBCU community is a direct result of policies and 

programs that have been established at the federal level. 

 The 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Higher Education Act, including the 1986 amendments 

authorizing Title III programs, the Pell grant program, the recent establishment of the Office of 

Minority Research at the National Institutes of Health, and a broader cadre of programs cutting 

across the federal enterprise, including the Fed Up initiative launched by Chairman Buck McKeon 

to eliminate costly, complex regulatory burdens imposed on institutions of higher education, all 

have assisted the HBCUs greatly. 

 However, the question we attempt to answer today in light of the temporary socioeconomic, 

scientific, and technological challenges that are upon us, is where do we go from here. 

 And I might just cite some statistics for you. My colleagues have covered the financial aid 

programs, so I won't bother to repeat that. But I did want to call attention to some important facts 

for you to consider. 

 Today in America, we give over 41,000 Ph.D.'s annually. Of that number, somewhere 

around 6,500 to 6,800 are given Ph.D.'s in engineering, one of the most important degrees that we 

can give in our nation. 

 But in the granting of those Ph.D.'s, only about 3,000 are going to American citizens, and of 

the 3,000 that are going to American citizens, only about 62 are going to African-Americans. 

 The National Science Foundation and other technological agencies of our federal 

government have been increasingly concerned about the production of scientists, engineers, and 

technical personnel that come out of the minority segment of our society, and increasingly have 

tried to establish programs that would focus on those particular activities. 

 And I want to tell this committee that there has always been an uneasy alliance in the 

National Science Foundation between educational and human resources and the research enterprise 

fostered by the National Science Foundation. 

 In that area, and I know that this is not necessarily particular to the concern of this 

committee, but there is something that is the concern of this committee, the programs which have 

provided support to our institutions to allow them to participate in the making of increased number 

of African-American scientists in engineering have been cut. 

 The Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation has been reduced. The HBCU 

program has been reduced. The most effective program that we have in America today which we 
21

participate in, the majority of the historical black colleges, through these consortium, participate in 

alleviating the under-representation of minorities in science and engineering, the Louis Stokes 

Alliance is the most productive program that we've got going, and that program is cut. 

 That program should not be cut. It should be enhanced and it should go and include more 

alliances, not less alliances, or start reducing the support for the alliances that we have in existence 

today.

 A very small program in the Department of Education, which holds great promise for 

helping to build science and technology capability, is the MSHP program, the MSHP program in 

the Department of Education that now, under the secretary of education, last year, was funded for 

$7.5 million, I think it's being recommended for $8.5 million this year. 

 That program allows you to develop infrastructure. That program would allow the historical 

black colleges and universities, if it were beefed up in support, to start computer science 

departments. Today in America, there are only 19 HBCUs that offer computer science programs, 

in a nation where, as far as you can see in the future, computer scientists are going to be needed by 

this nation. 

 They are going to be needed in such great need that we let all kind of international students 

come in to fulfill the need. 

 It is one of the great programs that can be used to eradicate the deficiency in our community 

by allowing them to establish and right the developmental costs for the development of 

undergraduate baccalaureate degree programs in computer science. 

 We are recommending that you grant $20 million to MSHP to allow that program to 

continue to grow. 

 The second issue I want to call attention to today is the Greater American Universities. 

Chairman Hoekstra. Excuse me, Dr. Humphries. You have a lunch at 11:40 that we are also 

trying to accommodate, and I think there are a number of other college presidents here, as well. 

Mr. Humphries. Just one more comment and I will be through. 

Chairman Hoekstra. That's all right. I was just going to ask you how many more you had. I 

wasn't ready to gavel you down yet. 

Mr. Humphries. One more comment that has to do with the greater American universities in our 

country today require that their freshman class bring computers with them, and it is a signal, an 

honor, the great universities, that kids can do this. 

 At the major American universities, where the average income of the parents of the kids 

who go to schools where there is a requirement to have a computer, the average income is around 
22

about $100,000 per family income. 

 As you have heard from my two colleagues, we have a poor bunch of kids. So one of the 

things that we want to offer for consideration is that in the Title III, Part B legislation, the inclusion 

of a $20 million budget, and that budget will permit the HBCUs, in their Title III allocation, to 

fund, for poor kids, a computer. 

 The administration has stressed leave no kid behind. If we are able to provide for those kids 

who can afford and those kids who can't afford the difference of providing them a computer, we 

raise the quality index of our institutions. 

 So we want to recommend that for a kid who is fully Pell eligible, that is, for a student who 

would get $4,000 for a Pell grant, that the university that that student attends in the HBCU 

community, funded through Title III, the school would be able to grant that kid a computer, thereby 

making it possible for the HBCUs to say computers are required for freshman students, and we 

help solve the digital divide as we go forward with this idea. 

 Twenty million dollars will give us the start and it will be used to fund freshman students to 

get computers who are fully Pell eligible as they come into our institutions. 

 Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a lot more, but I have already submitted my paper. 

 Please read it. It is filled with a lot of wonderful facts and figures for you to consider in 

helping us. 

 Thank you. 

STATEMENT OF FREDERICK S. HUMPHRIES, CEO AND PRESIDENT, NATIONAL 

ASSOCIATION FOR EQUAL OPPORTUNITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION, SILVER SPRING, 

MARYLAND – SEE APPENDIX F 

Chairman Hoekstra. Thank you very much. I also believe that you have a number of individuals 

from your organization who are here with us today. 

 If you'd please rise. 

Mr. Humphries. All of them. All presidents please stand. That's all of them, sir. 

Chairman Hoekstra. Great. We appreciate all of you being here and the dialogue and the 

partnership that we are building. 

 We will now go to Mr. Elders. Welcome. 
23

STATEMENT OF CHRISTOPHER ELDERS, STUDENT AND RHODES 

SCHOLAR, MOREHOUSE COLLEGE, ATLANTA, GEORGIA 

Mr. Elders. Thank you. I would first like to commend the committee for having this very 

important hearing. 

 I know, as a student at a historically black college, that the role of black colleges is very 

important as we look toward 21st century competitiveness. 

 As said before, in December, I was selected as a Rhodes Scholar, and this has truly been a 

privilege, an honor that I am just now starting to understand. 

 I quickly learned that this award comes with a great deal of attention and acclaim, and I 

have been pleased that along with this interest and me winning the Rhodes has come a great deal of 

interest generated about my school, Morehouse College, which is led by President Walter Massey. 

 I am especially pleased because the focus of discussion has not been solely on its status as a 

historically black college or university, but it has been on the quality of the liberal arts education 

that I have received. 

 I have discovered as I have gone along in college that a historically black and a high quality 

liberal arts education are not two things that can necessarily be separated. 

 I have learned and I have discovered, as my college education comes to an end, that the 

quality of my education and the character of my education are not two things that I can really 

separate.

 I only wish more of my peers from Morehouse and the other historically black colleges 

were here to talk about their experiences, but since it's just me, I would like to talk about how 

attending a historically black college, and specifically Morehouse, has meant to me. 

 Thankfully, America has become increasingly more integrated and fewer barriers exist for 

African-American students to attend the school of his or her choice. 

 Unfortunately, it is often assumed that when some choose to attend historically black 

colleges, that this need is no longer there. 

 What is not realized is that when students attend historically black colleges, it's not simply 

because they have to, but because they feel that that is the best choice for them. 

 It is even more important to understand that for most African-Americans, this choice is not 

an attempt to escape the culturally diverse landscapes of modern universities, but instead a choice 

to pursue the unique cultural and educational opportunities that are provided at a historically black 

college or university. 
24

 Morehouse's status as an HBCU has meant different things to the different students that 

attend there. For some, Morehouse has been a contribution to their education by providing a 

continuation of the familiar environment in which they were raised. 

 It allows them to feel comfortable in pursuing a higher education with students from similar 

backgrounds.

 While for others, the black college atmosphere has allowed them for the first time to live 

and learn with other black students, and for many, it has been a combination of both. 

 Although they have grown up in a very integrated environment, like myself, it has provided 

a unique experience of learning about the African-American experience within the context of a 

larger education. 

 Of course, this type of college is not for everyone. Truly one of America's great assets, it's a 

diversity of its educational institutions, as Congressman Owens said so eloquently before. 

 But the importance and the power of black colleges is the choice that they provide for 

students and although the opportunity exists to attend institutions of varying sizes and varying 

demographic makeups, it is vital that the federal government support colleges that provide 

distinctly African-American educational environments for students who want it, and, most 

importantly, for students who need it. 

 Because of the array of options and barriers before many students, choosing a college can 

be a difficult decision. 

 I know that I had to weigh the pros and cons of each college I considered before I made the 

decision to attend Morehouse. 

 This said, it is imperative that attending a historically black college or institution mean that 

you are not sacrificing the quality of education due to lack of resources and although the quality of 

education, the dedication of teachers, and the true mission of historically black colleges can never 

be questioned, certain resources must be there to allow students to remain competitive in an ever 

changing world. 

 It is also important to understand that the issues concerning black colleges, trends in race, 

geography, and party lines, the future of black colleges is not one that serves anyone's real political 

agenda, but one that serves the education of all students, for a developed population of AfricanAmerican college graduates is one that can benefit the entire country. 

 I think this is extremely important to recognize as we enter an ever-evolving world, where 

students become increasingly more diverse and colleges become increasingly more educated. 

 In reality, black colleges, although playing a historic role, are never relics of the past, but, in 

fact, beacons of the future in which African-American students are as competitive as anyone else 

and educational opportunities are provided to anyone who needs them in any way, shape or form 
25

they deem is best for them. 

 Thank you very much for having this opportunity to speak in front of you. 

STATEMENT OF CHRISTOPHER ELDERS, STUDENT AND RHODES SCHOLAR, 

MOREHOUSE COLLEGE, ATLANTA, GEORGIA – SEE APPENDIX G 

Chairman Hoekstra. I'm not sure if you're applauding in that Mr. Elders was the only one that 

stopped when the red light came on. 

 It was a great statement. Thank you very much. 

 We have got a problem here. You guys are on a tight agenda. You have lunch scheduled as 

of a few minutes ago. 

 You gave some great testimony. I was looking for some guidance as to where you wanted 

to go. 

 I have been at a couple of the schools and a few of the hearings, and I'm looking forward to 

doing some more. 

 So I am going to yield. Do you have any questions? I will yield you my time or I will yield 

to Mr. Roemer. 

Mr. McKeon. I'm not stupid enough to ask a question when they are leaving to go to lunch. 

Chairman Hoekstra. All right. 

Mr. McKeon. But I would like to thank you again very much. I just came back from a meeting 

with ACE and I had a good meeting with Mr. Hepner from Tennessee. He was telling me a lot 

about his school and I told him I wanted to come down and visit, and I'll make the offer to you, too. 

 We have lots of schools, but we learn a lot more when we can come around and visit and 

interact with the students, and I would really like to do that. 

 So thank you for being here. 

Chairman Hoekstra. I think just building off of that, we've committed to make this a process and 

to visit more of you at your schools, and I think I've got outstanding commitments to visit the 

Atlanta area or visit Georgia, and, also, an outstanding commitment to go to Louisiana. 

 So there's at least two and maybe some of you know of other places I'm committed to go to, 

but we're looking at getting that done. 
26

 Obviously, the events of last fall and being in session until December 1 limited the 

availability of us to make some of the field trips that we were looking forward to making last fall. 

 With that, I will yield to my colleague, Mr. Roemer. 

Mr. Roemer. I want to thank Chairman Hoekstra for having this hearing, as well. 

 This has been a very helpful hearing, I think, for the entire committee, and we look forward 

to visiting many of the schools that are represented here on the panel and also schools in the 

audience and schools throughout the country. 

Dr. Humphries, I would like to go see Florida A&M, as well, too, after all that bragging 

you've done, get down there and check it out and see it. 

Mr. Humphries. The president is here, my replacement, Henry Lewis. 

Mr. Roemer. He just left for the lunch. He's got a lot of scholars. 

 Let me ask a quick question. The president had just, according to this morning's paper, 

announced the creation of an advisory board for historically black colleges and universities. I 

applaud him and commend him for doing that. I would also imagine that the first thing he is going 

to hear, from what we have heard today, is that we need more resources. We need more money. 

We need more help. 

 Pell grants now are one-half the purchasing power that they were from 1976. They just 

haven't kept up. You can see from the latest budget that they are flat funded. 

 We have heard from you about the need for more engineers, more computer scientists, more 

help for technology, doing something about the digital divide. That takes money and whether we 

do a carve-out in Title III, as Dr. Humphries has suggested, for laptops or trying to help with the 

Louis Stokes Alliance Fund to encourage more African-Americans to get into the engineering 

programs, where 62 African-Americans graduated with engineering Ph.D.'s. 

 Was that correct, Dr. Humphries? 

Mr. Humphries. That is correct. 

Mr. Roemer. So we have a lot of work ahead of us. I would just like to comment on what would 

you say if you were a member of this advisory board. 

Mr. Humphries. Well, some of the members are here, but I would hope that the posture of this 

committee would be the same as was the posture toward NIH in doubling the budget, the same as 

the posture toward NSF in doubling the budget. We recognize the critical areas of the National 

Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation and the nation's interest going forward. 
27

 This committee and the position would be that in all areas of support for black colleges, that 

we look realistically at double, in a finite time, like three years, the support for minorities' progress 

in America and minority institutions' progress in America. 

 It is clear that we need more money in the Pell grant. One of the big issues that we've got to 

demonstrate to you all is this unmet need that we have, which is just debilitating to the promise of 

getting a college education. So the Pell grant has got to grow, and I would like to see us adopt some 

kind of posture toward moving that Pell grant to a higher level. 

 We recommend $7,500 for the Pell grant to grow over the course of time, but it is clear that 

we need more financial support. The cost of education is increasing. The circumstances that 

impacted the economy last year are going to be passed on to kids in the fall in terms of high tuition 

increases and if we're not careful, that will cut the access issue for kids going to college. So there 

needs to be a keep-up with the cost as it escalates in our society toward getting a higher education.

 Black people are getting poorer, not richer, in the country. So we need strong federal 

financial aid programs. In impacting the economy, when these kids leave college with 40 to 

$50,000 worth of loans to pay off, take 15 years to pay them off, it takes them a long time, and 

some of them never get started economically in the society. So we've got to figure out how to cut 

the costs of the borrowing power of kids and not have that happen, so that they go into the society 

with lesser debt. 

 That means that we need to look at the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants in 

such a way that we put more dollars into it, so that more grants can be made. 

 So this federal financial aid proposition needs to be looked at carefully toward answering 

the question how best do we make these kids viable in the larger society after obtaining the goal 

that all of us want to have, an increased number of kids going to college, getting baccalaureate 

degrees, and then going out and being competitive and be citizens who contribute to the 

communities in which they live, and burdening them with debt is a huge problem toward that 

participation. 

Chairman Hoekstra. Mr. Isakson. 

Mr. Isakson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just one quick question and one brief comment. 

 Christopher, I want to ask you a question. When you were a senior in high school, given 

your articulate testimony and given the fact that you are a Rhodes Scholar and Truman Fellow, 

how many institutions recruited you, and who were those institutions that you considered before 

you decided on Morehouse? 

Mr. Elders. I considered quite a few, actually. I was one of those seniors that really was all over 

the place and just knew I wanted to go somewhere. 

Mr. Isakson. Give me the top three or four. 
28

Mr. Elders. My top three choices were Morehouse, Northwestern, and Dartmouth College. 

Mr. Isakson. The reason I asked the question is your testimony, as the chairman said, was truly 

outstanding and the best of all, with all deference to the doctors that are all here, it was just terrific. 

 I shouldn't have said that, should I? But I think every member of the committee who heard 

it should read your testimony, which was verbatim to what you said, and every member of the 

committee who wasn't here should be given a copy of it. 

 It really is an insight in the decision-making process and the role of historic black colleges 

and universities, and I thought you did an excellent job, and I just wanted to make that point, given 

the choices you obviously had when you were a senior. 

 I yield back. 

Chairman Hoekstra. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mrs. Mink. 

Mrs. Mink. I just simply want to, again, thank you very, very much for coming. I join the two 

chairs of the subcommittee in hoping that we will have an opportunity to visit a number of your 

campuses, because I think by doing that, we get a much more complete understanding of what the 

problems are. 

 I fully concur that one of the great problems that students have is the enormous debt that 

they incur, especially if they go on to graduate education beyond the BA. 

 I wondered if your council of presidents have ever considered proposing some sort of an 

impact program we all know the term with so many impact programs in various areas, especially to 

the historically black colleges, where, when a loan exceeds a certain amount, that it would be 

waived in consideration of the student's completion of a particular program which is essential to the 

community, essential to the nation. 

 I would think that such a proposal would be well received in the Congress and would 

supplement the idea of increasing Pell grants, increasing the SEOGs and other grant type things, 

because we all know that there will never come a day when there will be sufficient funds to pay for 

the costs of education, particularly in the graduate area. 

 So I leave that as a thought for you. Thank you. 

Ms. Lewis. That is a wonderful suggestion, and thank you for making it. It certainly would make 

a significant impact on the way our students perform and where they go afterwards. 

 I'll put it another way. When we get to that proposal, I would be one to remind and ask 

people to join in recognizing that part of the programs that should be certainly included in anything 

related to that should be the teacher education programs. 
29

 We know that we are under-represented in the sciences, and I hold that as a top priority, but 

I notice sometimes the persons who are pursuing education degrees, because we have tended to 

pursue that field maybe more prominently than others, sometimes that doesn't make it to the final 

cut.

 Yet, it is indeed the teacher who gets the persons where they need to go. 

 So thank you so much. 

Chairman Hoekstra. Mr. Scott. 

Mr. Scott. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank the witnesses for testifying. I want to 

welcome the college presidents, particularly Dr. McDemmond from Norfolk State, and Dr. Moore 

from Virginia State, and others I see from Virginia. 

 I had a number of questions. Let me just pose them and I can get with Dr. Humphries and 

maybe some others at a later time. 

 The Upward Bound program is one that I am particularly interested in and I wanted to know 

if your universities were turning people away because of lack of funding. Any help that you could 

need in growing your endowments, those were mentioned, what we can do to help, technical 

assistance, cash, whatever it takes to increase those endowments. 

 I didn't hear a lot about the amount of research money going to historically black colleges. 

That is an area where a lot of colleges get a substantial amount of their funding through research 

grants, and there may be other revenue possibilities. 

 Finally, on the point that has just been made on Pell grants, if we could see the financial 

form filled out by Pell grant eligible students to show what the gap is between what they get in the 

Pell grant and what the form shows that they actually need in order to attend. 

 With that, Mr. Chairman, I thank them for attending, thank them for their testimony, and 

thank Mr. Elders for his testimony, particularly. My brother went to Morehouse and my nephew 

just graduated a couple years ago from Morehouse. So I'm well aware of that fine institution. 

 Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman Hoekstra. Thank you, Mr. Scott. I would, again, like to thank the witnesses. 

 I have been given specific instructions to remind you that lunch will be at the Library of 

Congress.

 I ask unanimous consent that the record be left open for 14 days. Without objection, so 

ordered.
30

 There is no further business in front of the subcommittees. I would like to thank the 

witnesses. This joint subcommittee hearing is adjourned. Thank you. 

 [Whereupon, at 11:57 a.m., the subcommittees were adjourned.] 
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Table of Indexes 

Chairman Hoekstra, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18, 21, 22, 25, 27, 28, 29 

Mr. Castle, 10 

Mr. DeLauder, 13 

Mr. Elders, 12, 23, 27, 28 

Mr. Humphries, 18, 21, 22, 26 

Mr. Isakson, 12, 27, 28 

Mr. McKeon, 5, 25 

Mr. Norwood, 11 

Mr. Owens, 8 

Mr. Payne, 9 

Mr. Roemer, 3, 5, 26 

Mr. Scott, 29 

Mrs. Mink, 4, 7, 28 

Ms. Lewis, 16, 28