Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 186 / Thursday, September 25, 1997 / Presidential Documents 50471

Proclamation 7025 of September 19, 1997

National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week,

1997

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

we are a few short years away from the dawn of the 21st century, yet

much of the challenge and change we have been anticipating is already

upon us. We are competing today in a truly global economy, an economy

based on information and technology as well as agriculture and industry.

We are living in the age of the information revolution, the era of the

World Wide Web, of daily advances in communications technology where

a universe of knowledge is only a keyboard and a modem away. We are

crossing the frontier into a new world, and our only map and compass

in that world will be education.

We must build an educational system that prepares our young people for

the jobs of the future. We must empower them with the values, experiences,

and self-confidence to succeed in our diverse society. We must provide

them with the knowledge and motivation to reach their full human potential—and we must leave no one behind. In devising such an educational

system, we need only look to America’s Historically Black Colleges and

Universities (HBCUs) for a model of excellence.

This extraordinary network of institutions, more than a century old, has

created a legacy of unquestioned accomplishment in fostering student success. Founded to educate African Americans in a segregated society, these

colleges and universities have flourished and built an enviable record of

achievement in educating America’s black scientists, doctors, teachers, lawyers, artists, entrepreneurs, community and religious leaders, and other professionals. They have provided generations of students with access to highly

supportive environments for learning. The experience and expertise of HBCUs

make them an invaluable resource to our Nation during this period of

significant change.

America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities daily demonstrate

effective leadership in a multitude of ways: they develop and practice innovative academic approaches to ensure student success; they create campus

programs that offer new solutions to critical social problems; they produce

cutting-edge research with practical applications; and they forge strong global

relationships from a myriad of international activities. Moreover, against

formidable financial odds, they have persisted in keeping education affordable for the constituencies they serve, without sacrificing quality. They

have never allowed scarce funding, poor educational preparation, or societal

disadvantage to get in the way of their mission to educate and nurture

the intellectual potential of the black community.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities have done more to make the

American Dream a reality for African Americans than has any other set

of institutions in our country. These institutions are poised to enter the

21st century, ready to build on this tradition of excellence, achievement,

and reverence for education. We can count on them to continue to make

vital contributions to our Nation’s success and to ensure that America lives

up to our fundamental values of equality and opportunity.
50472 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 186 / Thursday, September 25, 1997 / Presidential Documents

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States

of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution

and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 21 through

September 27, 1997, as National Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Week. I call upon the people of the United States, including government

officials, educators, and administrators, to observe this week with appropriate

programs, ceremonies, and activities honoring America’s Historically Black

Colleges and Universities and their graduates.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this nineteenth day

of September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-seven,

and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred

[FR Doc. 97–25697

Filed 9–24–97; 8:59 am]

Billing code 3195–01–P

and twenty-second.

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