Presidential Documents

Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 181 / Wednesday, September 18, 2024 / Presidential Documents 76393 

Proclamation 10811 of September 13, 2024 

National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week, 

2024 

By the President of the United States of America 

A Proclamation 

For more than 180 years, Historically Black Colleges and Universities 

(HBCUs) have delivered a quality education to Black students across our 

Nation. Over 100 HBCUs serve as engines of economic opportunity and 

make America more prosperous and equitable. Although they make up less 

than 3 percent of all postsecondary institutions in the United States, HBCUs 

account for 8 percent of Black undergraduate enrollment and 13 percent 

of all bachelor’s degrees earned by Black students. During National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week, we celebrate the incredible 

legacy of these institutions, we honor the quality education, economic mobility, and opportunity they bring to so many students—particularly students 

from low-income backgrounds and those who are the first in their families 

to go to college—and we recommit to supporting and investing in their 

success. 

HBCUs are centers of academic excellence, shaping the dreamers and doers 

who push our Nation forward. Within my Administration, I have seen firsthand just how an HBCU education shapes leaders and alumni—including 

Vice President Kamala Harris and the Administrator of the Environmental 

Protection Agency, Michael Regan. Eighty percent of our Nation’s Black 

judges, 50 percent of all Black lawyers, and nearly 40 percent of Congressional Black Caucus members went to an HCBU. HBCUs produce 40 percent 

of all Black engineers and 70 percent of Black doctors. Some of our Nation’s 

greatest visionaries, scholars, artists, athletes, and leaders of every sector 

have credited their success to their time at an HBCU. And HBCUs educate 

twice as many Pell Grant-eligible students as other institutions. 

I have always supported our Nation’s HBCUs, which tap into the full talent 

and diversity of our country. HBCUs are incredible institutions, but they 

unfairly face historic funding gaps and do not have the same endowments 

as other universities. My Administration has delivered record investments 

in HBCUs—totaling more than $16 billion. That funding has helped support 

students, student-veterans, and staff; improve campus infrastructure; expand 

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) research programs; and 

so much more. My Administration also secured first-time funding for the 

Augustus F. Hawkins Centers of Excellence Grant Program, providing more 

than $23 million in grants to HBCUs and Minority Serving Institutions 

to prepare our next generation of teachers and increase the diversity of 

the profession. 

Additionally, I re-established the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity through HBCUs to 

ensure they have greater access to Federal funding opportunities. Furthermore, as Americans, we have to ensure that hate and hate-fueled violence 

are given no safe harbor in this country. When more than one-third of 

our country’s HBCUs were targeted by dozens of bomb threats in 2022, 

my Administration worked to quickly expand the accessibility of a broad 

spectrum of Federal security services, resources, and expertise to support 

them. We also deployed over $2.4 million in Project School Emergency 


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76394 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 181 / Wednesday, September 18, 2024 / Presidential Documents 

Response to Violence grants that have helped restore safe learning environments and investments in mental health and well-being for students. I strongly condemn any threats made by domestic extremists on HBCUs, and I 

will continue to do everything I can to protect all Americans from the 

threat of violence. 

My Administration is also working to make sure college is more affordable 

for every American. We secured a $900 increase to the maximum Pell 

Grant award—the largest increase in over a decade—putting funding directly 

in students’ hands. And we are working on relieving the crushing burden 

of student loan debt. To date, nearly 5 million Americans have received 

student loan debt relief, totaling almost $170 billion through various actions 

taken by my Administration. We also fixed the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program (PSLF) so that public servants get the relief they are entitled 

to under the law. My Administration has already provided relief to 947,000 

borrowers through PSLF. Before I took office, only 7,000 public servants 

had received debt relief through this program. And earlier this year, I announced new plans that would provide debt relief for more than 30 million 

Americans when combined with everything my Administration has done 

so far. 

This year, as I delivered the commencement address at Morehouse College, 

I felt honored to stand alongside these incredible students, whose legacies 

will surely lift our Nation up. These students, like so many others before 

them, launched their boundless futures at an HBCU. During National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week, may we celebrate these critical 

institutions for all the doors of opportunity they open. May we honor their 

dedication to seeing their students thrive. And may we recommit to supporting HBCUs, which continue to prove that the American Dream is big 

enough for everyone to succeed. 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States 

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

and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 15 through 

September 21, 2024, as National Historically Black Colleges and Universities 

Week. I call upon educators, students, public officials, professional organizations, corporations, and all Americans to observe this week with appropriate 

programs, ceremonies, and activities that acknowledge the countless contributions these institutions and their alumni have made to our country. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 181 / Wednesday, September 18, 2024 / Presidential Documents 76395 

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

of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-four, and of 

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

forty-ninth. 

[FR Doc. 2024–21447 

Filed 9–17–24; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 3395–F4–P 


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