Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander- Serving Institutions Week, 2024

Proclamation 10816 of September 20, 2024

Asian American and Native American Pacific
Islander- Serving Institutions Week, 2024

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Our Nation's nearly 200 Asian American and Native
American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions
(AANAPISIs) open doors of opportunity for millions of
Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander
(AA and NHPI) students. AANAPISIs provide a pathway to
the middle class and a better life for their students,
many of whom often come from low-income neighborhoods
and may be the first in their families to attend
college. During AANAPISI Week, we celebrate these
critical institutions for the resources and support
they provide to students, and we recommit to advancing
their mission and success.

AANAPISIs play a critical role in the lives of so many
of our Nation's AA and NHPI students. In addition to a
quality education, these institutions meet AA and NHPI
students where they are and foster inclusive learning
environments--providing tutoring, career development,
counseling, culturally and linguistically responsive
services, and more. AANAPISIs confer more than half of
all associate degrees and more than a third of
baccalaureate degrees that AA and NHPI students earn.

My Administration is committed to strengthening our
AANAPISIs so that more AA and NHPI students can reach
their full potential. My American Rescue Plan delivered
$5 billion to AANAPISIs. The Department of Education
has invested in increasing the number of diverse and
talented teachers by funding programs at Minority
Serving Institutions that serve large percentages of AA
and NHPI populations. Across my Administration, Federal
agencies are working to expand the capacity of
AANAPISIs and strengthen their programs. And I re-
established the White House Initiative on Asian
Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders and
released a National Strategy to Advance Equity,
Justice, and Opportunity for AA and NHPI Communities.
These actions work to ensure AA and NHPI communities
have the resources they need to thrive.

My Administration is also working to make college more
affordable for all students. We provided a $900
increase to the maximum Pell Grant award--the largest
increase in over a decade, canceled debt for hundreds
of thousands of borrowers through the Public Service
Loan Forgiveness program, and taken steps to help
borrowers manage their payments through income-driven
repayment. And earlier this year, I laid out my
Administration's new plans that would cancel student
debt for more than 30 million Americans when combined
with everything we have done so far.

I have always believed that the American Dream is big
enough for everyone--and every generation has benefited
by opening the doors of opportunity a bit wider for
those behind them. During AANAPISI Week, may we
celebrate the nearly 200 institutions across our Nation
that ensure generations of AA and NHPI students can
pursue the limits of their talents and ambitions. May
we recognize that diversity will always be one of our
Nation's greatest strengths. And may we celebrate all
our Nation's AA and NHPI students.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, by virtue of the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws
of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 23
through September 29, 2024, as Asian American and
Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions
Week. I call on public officials, educators, and all
the people of the United States to observe this week
with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities
that acknowledge the many ways these institutions and
their graduates contribute to our country.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twentieth day of September, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
ninth.