National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week, 2009

Proclamation 8404 of August 30, 2009

National Historically Black Colleges and
Universities Week, 2009

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

For generations, education has opened doors to untold
opportunities and bright futures. Through quality
instruction and a personal commitment to hard work,
young people in every part of our Nation have gone on
to achieve success. Established by men and women of
great vision, leadership, and clarity of purpose,
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
have provided generations of Americans with
opportunity, a solid education, and hope.

For more than 140 years, HBCUs have released the power
of knowledge to countless Americans. Pivotal in the
Civil Rights Movement, HBCUs offer us a window into our
Nation's past as well as a path forward. Graduates of
HBCUs have gone on to shape the course of American
history--from W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington,
to Langston Hughes and Thurgood Marshall. Today, in
twenty States, the District of Columbia, and the U.S.
Virgin Islands, these colleges and universities are
serving hundreds of thousands of students from every
background and have contributed to the expansion of the
African American middle class, to the growth of local
communities, and to our Nation's overall economy.

This week, we celebrate the accomplishments of HBCUs
and look to the future with conviction and optimism.
These institutions will play a key role in reaching our
ambitious national education goals, including having
the highest proportion of college graduates in the
world by 2020. As our Nation strives toward this goal,
we invite HBCUs to employ new, innovative, and
ambitious strategies to help the next generation of
Americans successfully complete college and prepare
themselves for the global economy. During National
Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week, we
recommit ourselves to never resting until equality is
real, opportunity is universal, and all citizens can
realize their dreams.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United
States, do hereby proclaim August 30 through September
5, 2009, as National Historically Black Colleges and
Universities Week. I call upon public officials,
educators, and all the people of the United States to
observe this week with appropriate programs,
ceremonies, and activities that acknowledge the
tremendous contributions these institutions and their
graduates have made to our country.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirtieth day of August, in the year of our Lord two
thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth.