The proposed 2011 federal budget will include a $98 million funding increase for historically Black colleges and universities.

In a recent television interview Education Secretary Arne Duncan said the Obama Administration wants to do what it can to help HBCU’s “thrive.”

From Black America Web

Administration officials are hoping the funding will stave off criticism from black college presidents and alumni, who complained last year the administration’s decision not to pursue renewing a George W. Bush-era HBCU funding program actually resulted in a budget cut to the cash-strapped schools.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan, appearing Sunday on TV One’s “Washington Watch with Roland Martin,” announced Obama’s intention ahead of the White House’s official rollout of its estimated $3.8 trillion budget proposal.

“We have great news, that, going forward, we’re proposing in the budget an increase of $98 million annually for HBCUs, so that’s a tremendous commitment,” Duncan said in response to a question from Martin. “I said from Day One we desperately need HBCUs not just to survive, but to thrive.”

In addition, Duncan said the administration is seeking increases in Pell grants – with an eye towards doubling Pell opportunities for HBCU students – Perkins Loans and tuition tax credits.

A controversial graduation requirement from Lincoln University mandating all overweight students  to take a health and fitness course is causing a serious debate between students, health officials and legal scholars.

Lincoln University, a historically Black university near Philadelphia, requires students who have a Body Mass Index (BMI) above 30 to take the health and fitness course which consists of  aerobics, weight training and nutrition.

BMI is a measurement health officials use to determine obesity.

It is believed Lincoln University is the only is school in the nation to require overweight students to take a health class.

There is a petition calling for the university to get rid of the health class but the school is holding its ground. What do you think? Good idea or is Lincoln discriminating against overweight students?

In an effort to save money, Haley Barbour, the governor of Mississippi, is proposing merging Jackson State University, Mississippi Valley State University and Alcorn State University into one school.

Will this work?

The Tavis Smiley Communication School at Texas Southern University (TSU) will be renamed as school’s governing board voted to cut ties with the author and journalist for not delivering on his pledge to raise $2 million for the historically Black college.

According to the Houston Chronicle, Smiley agreed in 2004 to personally donate $200,000 annually for a period of five years as well as raise $1 million through private and corporate donations.

TSU officials said Smiley raised $300,000.

Smiley said concerns with the school’s fiscal management after its previous president was fired and sentenced to probation for improper usage of school funds, made it difficult to raise funds for the institution.

“I … will continue with my benevolence where it’s appreciated,” said Smiley in an email to TSU officials.

Smiley formerly worked for BET.

UPDATE: Hampton University confirms that Theo Smalling died from his injuries. Click here for more information.

The captain of the Hampton University basketball team is in critical condition after being shot in a club parking lot.

Theo Smalling, a 22-year-old senior majoring in sports management, was accidentally shot by Domonique Smith early Saturday morning. Smith is charged with one count of Reckless Handling of a Firearm.

The Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) pulled no punches when he met with a group of education officials.

John Wilson said in order for HBCUs to survive and compete for African-American students, the institutions have to stop whining about what they do not have and instead come up with innovative ways to raise money and recruit students.

From 2TheAdvocate.com

HBCUs must stop feeling sorry for themselves, he said, and switch their focus from playing violins to trumpets.

“We play the violin too much,” Wilson said. “We think people owe us something.”

Many HBCUs are facing financial difficulty due to declining enrollment and increasing costs. The recession has also tightened the wallets of businesses and charities that typically donate and support HBCUs.

Wilson also called out HBCU alumni who “will go to Homecoming” but refuse to give back to their alma mater.

A lot of that is a failure of the colleges to treat their students and alumni well, he said.

“If they (students) have built up an attitude with the financial aid office, which had an attitude with them, they’re going to leave here with an attitude and they’re not going to write a check,” Wilson said. “They’re going to come back for Homecoming, but they’re not going to open their checkbooks.”

Wilson is a graduate of Morehouse College.

I’m sure no one on the campus of Hampton University, one of the nation’s leading Historical Black College and Universities (HBCU’s) expected their annual Homecoming Pageant to become national news.

But when a non-African-American woman is crowned Homecoming Queen then writes a letter to the President of the United States complaining about the racial overtones on campus…it becomes national news.

Nikole Churchilll, a 22-year-old senior nursing major became the first non-African-American to be named Ms. Hampton in the history of the institution on Friday.

While her victory has split the campus with some saying she does not deserve the award because of her Guam and Italian ancestry as well as attending classes at the Virgina Beach satellite campus instead of the main campus, her letter to the President is seemingly causing the most angst.

In her letter to Obama, written Sunday, she said her victory was the best moment in here life, however the attitudes of some students on campus has sullied her victory.

“It would be much easier to say that possibly some were not accepting of the news because I wasn’t the most qualified contestant; however, the true reason for the disapproval was because of the color of my skin. I am not African American.”

Churchill, like Obama, is a Hawaii native and is hoping the President will speak to students about racism.

There has been no response from the White House. (The Administration is a little busy right now with dealing with two wars, health care and the economy.)

Being a proud HBCU graduate myself, I’ve seen enough examples to know Homecoming pageants always come with some controversy, but get over it. The judges voted for the woman they believe to be the most qualified. There is no rule against a student attending classes on a satellite campus being Homecoming Queen.

Did she overreact by writing the President? Perhaps, but she is an American citizen with the right to contact her elected officials at her desire.

By the way, the coronation is Oct. 21.

UPDATE: Churchill Apologizes for Letter

Three former members of the Southern University Marching Band were given probation for their involvement in a hazing incident that placed two fellow band members in the hospital last fall.

According to reporting from the Clarion Star Ledger/Associated Press, Lagarian Bridgewater, 23, of Baton Rouge, Clifton Taylor, 21, of Baker, Mississippi and Carlo Carter, 20, of Stone Mountain, Ga, were all placed on active supervised probation for two years.

The hazing incident was part of a Nov. 25 initiation into the marching band’s unofficial French horn fraternity “Mellow Phi Fellow”. As part of the initiation one of the aspirants was hit more than 50 times with a paddle.

Four other defendants, Joseph Webb, 22, of Columbus, Ga., Jeremy Dixon, 23, of Natchez, Mississippi., Aubrey Harris Jr., 21, of Canton, Mississippi and Harvey Harrison, 20, of Atlanta are to be sentenced in by the end of the year.

By Robin Caldwell, BlackWeb20.com

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The White House says even though the President’s new budget does not allot the $85 million it did in the past for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, it has increased key initiatives that serve those schools in a budget where the vast majority of Education Department programs have received little or no funding.

Yesterday, BET.com reported that the cuts in the next budget could amount to as much as a $73 million shortfall.

In an e-mail to BET.com, White House officials said, “Discretionary funding programs for HBCUS, both undergrad and graduate, received 5 percent more than twice the rate of inflation. The budget doubled subsidy in the HBCU capital financing program and will more than double the total loan volume.”

But even as the Obama administration explains how the dispersed funding ends up benefiting the schools and students more, some leaders at America’s HBCUs say they can’t afford the cuts to direct funding, especially in an economic downturn. Their schools, they stress, make up just 3 percent of America’s colleges but confer almost 20 percent of the bachelor’s degrees awarded to African Americans.

Edith Bartley, Director of government affairs at the United Negro College Fund, told EURweb that leaders at most HBCUs and their advocates are disappointed but not surprised by the White House move.

In addition to the new streams of funding, the White House says, the new budget provides $7.9 million in programs that will strengthen Predominantly Black Institutions, expands the maximum Pell Grant award to $5,550 for the next school year, and ensures that future financial aid is reliable and constant.

“The President’s proposal overhauls the inefficient and inequitable Perkins Loan programs,” the e-mail read. “Finally, the budget provides $2.5 billion for a new five-year Access and Completion Incentive Fund to support innovative state efforts to help low-income students complete their college education.”