President Donald Trump recently signed an Executive Order providing $250 million in federal funding to historically black colleges and universities.
The Order establishes a White House Initiative on HBCUs, housed in the Executive Office of the President.
Trump’s Executive Order “promotes excellence and innovation” at HBCUs.
However, HBCU students who will benefit most from the Order are predominantly white students from well-to-do families.
Black college student enrollment has plummeted around the country over the past 2 decades. The drop in Black enrollment means the majority of HBCUs in the U.S. are white.
Two predominantly white schools in Virginia that are designated as historically black colleges still receive federal funding.
Federal funding for majority white HBCU schools should go to Black students at HBCUs that lack a commitment for federal funding.
According to NPR, West Virginia’s Bluefield State University is 90% white.
Bluefield State University held on to its HBCU status despite low Black student enrollment. Despite the fact that it is no longer majority Black, the college continues to receive federal funding as a HBCU.
It opened in the late 19th century as the Bluefield Colored Institute, created to educate the children of Black coal miners in segregated West Virginia.
Similarly, West Virginia State University, which was founded in 1891 as the West Virginia Colored Institute, is now majority white.
According to its website, West Virginia State has “evolved to serve a population that is richly diverse in ethnicity, geography, residential/commuter, high school graduates and adult learners.”
Like Bluefield, West Virginia State continues to receive federal funding as a historically black university.
