Remarks by President Biden and Vice President Harris Before Meeting with the President's Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities

"So, the work of this esteemed group of leaders, under the guidance of our President, is especially meaningful to me for many reasons.

I strongly believe -- based on experience and knowledge about what our country needs, in terms of its strength and growth and development -- that our HBCUs are extraordinary centers of academic excellence and must continue to be supported, not only because of the historical role that they have played in building and helping to contribute to America's leadership and global leadership, but also because, as the President has said: As we look forward, we know that our HBCUs are also pipelines for very extraordinary young people to enter the fields of work that we require to cure disease, to create that which we have not imagined, to supply us with the innovative approaches that will allow us to continue to work on the strength, prosperity, and security of our nation.

So, for all of those reasons, I thank this group for the work you do in advocating for the resources and the growth of our HBCUs.

HBCU graduates are in every room where important decisions are made, and they should be.

Right now, among the many issues that we are tackling is how will we address artificial intelligence.

One of the issues therein that we have discussed a lot -- at this very table, in fact -- is that we want to ensure that machine learning adapts to and includes the experiences of all people. We therefore will all benefit from HBCU graduates being at the table where those decisions are being made.

We came out of a pandemic some time ago. What we know is that when we look at health issues and public health crises, there will be disparities based on people's background, based on their race. And in order to best address those, we're going to want to have people in those fields of research who understand the culture, the mores, and the particular impact that certain communities have.

In the media, we want to make sure that those voices are represented, so when the stories are told, the stories will take into account the experiences of particular groups based on experience and -- and tradition and culture.

So, for all those reasons, we need our HBCUs. They benefit everyone in our country.

The President has been very adamant since we came in office that we will -- as Dr. Glover said, we will not just think of our HBCUs as an afterthought, but they will be at the forefront of our mind.

So, our administration has at least -- dedicated at least $7 billion -- Dr. Allen, I think you rightly calculated more --"

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"-- to what we need to do to support these schools.

And we will continue to do it, understanding that our HBCUs also have particular challenges. Their endowments tend to be smaller than other universities who are similarly situated, 50 percent of our HBCU buildings are in need of repair, and 70 percent of the students at HBCUs are Pell Grant eligible.

These are all areas that our administration has been working on, and we will continue to do that work.

And again, I cannot thank our president enough. Sometimes he -- I think he almost wants to let me know that he has spent more time at an HBCU than I have. (Laughter.) It becomes a source of a healthy debate -- (laughter) -- between he and I in the Oval Office, quietly.

But, President Biden, I thank you for all that you do on leadership on this issue and so much more. And I'll turn it over to Mayor Benjamin."

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