President Trump Vows to Help In his “listening session” earlier this month in commemoration of Black History Month, President Trump reportedly discussed the idea of helping out the nation’s struggling HBCUs with the weight of an executive order. Buzzfeed reported that Paris Dennard, a pro-Trump political commentator who works on strategic communications for the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, told the president that he could enshrine his legacy with black America if he acted on helping out the struggling schools — especially given President Obama’s mixed HBCU legacy. Trump was reportedly shocked that many of the schools faced, in some cases, existential challenges. Under the guidance of Omarosa Manigault, the Trump campaign’s director of African-American outreach and a close aide, the White House has worked for weeks on drafting an executive order. On Monday, President Trump exchanged greetings with 64 HBCU presidents in the oval office before the group met with Vice President Pence. Pence praised HBCU contributions to American history and culture and said that Trump remains committed to supporting them. Trump was reportedly shocked that many of the schools faced, in some cases, existential challenges. Under the guidance of Omarosa Manigault, the Trump campaign’s director of African-American outreach and a close aide, the White House has worked for weeks on drafting an executive order. On Monday, President Trump exchanged greetings with 64 HBCU presidents in the oval office before the group met with Vice President Pence. Pence praised HBCU contributions to American history and culture and said that Trump remains committed to supporting them. Included among the attendees was Morehouse College President John Silvanus Wilson Jr., whose contract was not renewed last month by the board of trustees at the all-male college. During his tenure, Wilson has slashed the college’s budget by $2.5 million and cut or downgraded 75 jobs. “Our enrollment in ‘05 was 3,000 students. When I got here it was 2,000,” Wilson told NBC News just outside his office. “And yet, in my four years, we’ve raised $70 million. We’ve begun to stabilize.” The campus of Morehouse sits less than two miles south of Morris Brown College but it may as well be a different city. The building’s red- brick neoclassical buildings are well-kept and its lawns well-manicured. While Morris Brown is bereft of students, Morehouse is abuzz with activity. The problems plaguing Morris Brown, though, have struck Morehouse — one of the most prestigious HBCUs in the nation who has produced grads Martin Luther King Jr, director Spike Lee and actor Samuel L. Jackson among its long, storied past. A presidential executive order, Wilson says, should focus on preparing HBCUs for the new economy with investments in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs. Wilson believes many HBCUs will close in the coming decades in a natural response to market forces, as all-women’s colleges have dwindled in number in the last 40 years. “Our job is to make sure that Morehouse is around when that happens,” said Wilson.
In 2003, the school had an enrollment of 2,700 Today, it has 40 students
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