North Carolina congresswoman battles president over pledges to black colleges
WASHINGTON — Rep. Alma Adams said it’s merely a coincidence that she’s revving up her activity on historically black colleges and universities next week at the same time President Donald Trump is scaling back his.
“Some spokesperson in the White House made some comment that we were doing this to outshine the president,” Adams said. “That’s not the case.”
Not that Adams is worried about what the White House thinks. The North Carolina Democrat has emerged as a chief critic of a stalled black college initiative Trump launched with great fanfare in February, and she has staked out space on Capitol Hill as a go-to advocate for the nation’s 100-plus historically black colleges and universities.
Adams was one of the first congressional lawmakers to call for the administration to postpone a White House conference on black colleges next week, noting last month that Trump hasn’t delivered on promises he made in an executive order he signed in February.
Trump vowed to move the HBCU portfolio out of
the Department of Education and into the White House and appoint an executive director to oversee it.
No one has yet been named.
The White House has significantly scaled back an annual gathering of the nation’s historically black colleges presidents and advocates next week.
While the White House has downsized its HBCU event, Adams and the black caucus are hosting a day on Capitol Hill next week for HBCU presidents to meet with House and Senate Democrats; a luncheon with black college leaders and corporate executives; and a celebration of the 150th anniversary of nine black colleges.