{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://adams.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/congressional-black-caucus-trump-cancel-hbcu-summit", "Congressional Black Caucus to Trump: Cancel HBCU summit", "2017-09-28", "2017", "2017-09", "Democrat", "House", "NC", "Alma Adams", "A000370", "adams.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "The White House has no plans to reschedule its conference for Historically Black Colleges and Universities scheduled for next month, despite calls from lawmakers and other leaders to postpone the event.\n  Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, slammed the Trump administration in a call with reporters on Monday, noting that nothing has changed since HBCU leaders went to the White House in February.\n\u201cThey brought all those HBCUs to town. They took a picture in the Oval Office and then they did nothing,\u201d said Richmond. \u201cIf you look at President Trump\u2019s budget he has a number of actions in it that actually hurt HBCUs.\u201d\nInstead of a conference, Richmond called for \u201csubstantive policies\u201d to help HBCUs.\n\u201cI don\u2019t think you need a conference in D.C. in order to do that,\u201d Richmond told reporters. Further, he said, \u201cThis White House is not serious about improving our HBCUs, our institutions of advancement.\u201d\n  President Trump signed an executive order in February establishing a White House Initiative on HBCUs. But despite fanfare surrounding the order and the White House-HBCUs listening sessions (at which there was \u201cvery little listening,\u201d according to a subsequent blog post by Dillard University President Walter M. Kimbrough), no progress has been made, and Trump has not yet assigned someone to be in charge of the initiative.\nThe Chronicle of Higher Education reported last month that the Trump administration is struggling to find someone willing to lead the effort. A spokesperson for the White House reportedly told the outlet that there are several finalists in the running for the position.\nMeanwhile, Trump\u2019s budget released in March proposed a 13.5 percent budget cut for the Education Department, going from $68.2 billion in 2017 to $59 billion in 2018. HBCUs and the Pell Grant Program were promised no additional funding, and the Pell Grant was set to lose its $3.9 billion reserve fund. Various programs that provide funding for students from low-income and disadvantaged backgrounds to attend school were scheduled for severe budget cuts or eliminated entirely.\nJohnny Taylor, president and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, suggested in a letter to White House officials that substantive action be taken rather than hosting a conference, according to HBCU Digest.\n\u201cIf the event is postponed, we request that the administration use the intervening period to hire an executive director of the White House Initiative on HBCUs and appointing the membership of the President\u2019s Advisory Board on HBCUs; these appointments are necessary first steps for this administration to show its commitment to advancing the HBCU agenda,\u201d the publication reported the letter as saying.\nCiting \u201crecent events\u201d and inaction from the White House regarding HBCUs, U.S. Rep. Alma Adams (D-N.C.), chair of the North Carolina Legislative Black Caucus Foundation, said in a press release the event should not take place yet:\n\u201cEarlier this month, my colleagues and I asked the administration for an update on their progress regarding HBCUs. In February, the president signed an executive order outlining greater investments and additional resources for HBCUs. It has become painstakingly clear that these promises are not being kept. In this current environment, and with zero progress made on any of their priorities, it would be highly unproductive to ask HBCU presidents to come back to Washington.\u201d\nAdams did not explicitly mention Charlottesville in her statement. Following the violent rally that left a 32-year-old counter-protester dead at the hands of a 20-year-old white supremacist, Trump insisted there were \u201cvery fine people\u201d on the neo-Nazi side of the rally and described violence \u201con both sides.\u201d\nAccording to Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, Lezli Baskerville, president and CEO of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education, directly addressed Trump\u2019s remarks after Charlottesville in a letter to HBCU leaders.\nBaskerville \u201cmade it clear that President Trump\u2019s response to the \u2018national disgrace that was Charlottesville and the false equivalency he made between the Nazis/white supremacists and those who opposed them\u2019 have many people questioning his competence as president,\u201d the publication reported.\nOmarosa Manigault, director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison for the president, confirmed in a statement to BuzzFeed News that the conference would go as planned.\n\u201cPresident Trump\u2019s commitment to the HBCU community remains strong and unwavering,\u201d Manigault told the outlet. \u201cRegistration is currently at capacity and we are looking forward to welcoming HBCU presidents, students, and guests.\u201d\n\u201cThough Manigault-Newman\u2019s statement indicated that the White House would roll out announcements on the board and advisory committee during the conference, a source advising the White House on HBCUs said he\u2019s talked to \u2018multiple people\u2019 in HBCU circles who have privately slammed Trump\u2019s comments with disgust,\u201d BuzzFeed reported.\n  The conference is scheduled for Sept. 17-19 in Arlington, Virginia.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://adams.house.gov/media-center/in-the-news/congressional-black-caucus-trump-cancel-hbcu-summit"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8634789846837521, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}