A member of the HBCU All-Star Ambassadors program is joining the national call for the White House to postpone its annual conference for historically black institutions, citing dysfunction and unmet promises on HBCU in the West Wing.
https://www.change.org/p/omarosa-manigault-postpone-the-2017-white-house-hbcu-week-conference?recruiter=13817987&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition
Tiffany Brockington, a Howard University alumna and 2016-17 All-Star, tweeted recently about the concerns surrounding the conference, namely, the hiring of an executive director of the White House Initiative on HBCUs, and a lack of communication between the ambassadors and White House officials overseeing HBCU engagement.
https://twitter.com/Bee_Positivee/status/901635754648096768
https://twitter.com/Bee_Positivee/status/901635817017413633
https://twitter.com/Bee_Positivee/status/901636864817364992
The conference has been a lightning rod in recent weeks, drawing concern from advocacy and legislative HBCU leaders in public letters, and private commitments from many HBCU presidents who say that they are unlikely to attend given the leadership status of the WHI, and perceptions about President Donald Trump and his recent actions on subjects with racial overtones.
The conference is scheduled to be held Sept. 17-19 in Arlington, Va. As of this publishing, the petition has collected 78 signatures.
