NATIONAL NEWS
Lodriguez Murray, UNCF VP of Public Policy & Governmental Affairs, Secures Billions for HBCUs
By Nicholas Cole
A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste — you know the phrase — the iconic United Negro College Fund (UNCF) slogan first used in 1972, but thanks to the hard work of Brother Lodriguez Murray, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) now have billions in funding to ensure students can achieve as much as they want.
L odriguez Murray, 38, (Pi is the youngest vice president in the organization’s history and is a nationally recognized lobbyist who was the driver behind several important pieces of leg- islation that have added support to Afri- can Americans and HBCUs, including the passing of the Fostering Undergrad- uate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education (FUTURE) Act in 2019. The bill provides the largest continuous government support ($85 million in an- nual permanent, perpetual funding) to HBCUs in our nation’s history. The legislation allows HBCUs, tribal colleges and universities (TCUs), Chapter 2003), Senior Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs at UNCF, Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), and other minority-serving institutions (MSIs) to continue receiving $255 million of critical annual government funding to improve academic quality and ensure their financial stability. “It is a law that now permanently funds the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs at HBCUs - that’s forever, so no other president has to sign a bill to do that, and no other Congress has to pass a bill to do that anymore,” Murray said, before adding, “That was a landmark achievement.” Additionally, the focus of the funding would be to maintain and improve vari- ous programs within high demand fields and majors within STEM.
HBCUs repre- sent 8.5 percent of the four-year institutions across the 21 states and territories they are located in. On average, HBCUs also enroll 24 percent of all black undergradu- ates pursuing a bachelor’s degree in a college or uni-
many cases, the forgiveness relieves institutions of millions of dollars in financial burden, allowing them to reinvest those would-be monthly and annual payments into their educational programming for stu- dents and endowments and overall become much more financially solvent. • Over $1.7 billion for HBCUs, Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and MSIs, as direct and targeted funding in COVID-19 relief. Of that total, the majority will go to HBCUs. Like in the CARES Act, which set aside $1.054 billion for the same purpose, this set-aside helps the institutions educating the students most impacted by COV- ID-19. Murray made this case again by forming an alliance with UNCF and other minority-serving educa- tion groups. This funding is essen- tial in providing stability to ensure no HBCUs or fragile institutions are lost because of the pandemic.
versity, graduate 26 percent of all Black bachelor’s degree recipients, and award 32 percent of STEM degrees to black students, according to the UNCF. As it relates to FUTURE Act, Congress received over 65,000 letters and phone calls in support within a two-month time span, according to Murray. Since Murray assumed his role at the UNCF, HBCU spending (passed by Congress) increased by over $300 million (combin- ing fiscal years 2018 - 2021). More recently, Murray was the driv- ing force behind a second landmark achievement - legislation funding for HBCUs in the fiscal year 2021 appro- priations bills and the coronavirus relief stimulus. Funding includes: • Forgiveness of at least $1.3 bil- lion of HBCU institutional loans via the Department of Education’s HBCU Capital Finance Program. All loan amounts that have been dispersed to institutions will qualify for permanent relief/forgiveness. In
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