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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary



For Immediate Release February 26, 2010


EXECUTIVE ORDER

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PROMOTING EXCELLENCE, INNOVATION, AND SUSTAINABILITY
AT HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES


By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of America,
in order to advance the development of the Nation's full human
potential and to advance equal opportunity in higher education,
strengthen the capacity of historically black colleges and
universities to provide the highest quality education, increase
opportunities for these institutions to participate in and
benefit from Federal programs, and ensure that our Nation has
the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by the
year 2020, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Policy. Historically black colleges
and universities (HBCUs) have made historic and ongoing
contributions to the general welfare and prosperity of our
country. Established by visionary leaders, America's HBCUs, for
over 150 years, have produced many of the Nation's leaders in
business, government, academia, and the military and have
provided generations of American men and women with hope and
educational opportunity. The Nation's 105 HBCUs are located in
20 States, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands
and serve more than 300,000 undergraduate and graduate students.
These institutions continue to be important engines of economic
growth and community service, and they are proven ladders of
intergenerational advancement for men and women of all ethnic,
racial, and economic backgrounds, especially African Americans.
These institutions also produce a high number of baccalaureate
recipients who go on to assume leadership and service roles in
their communities and who successfully complete graduate and
professional degree programs.

Sec. 2. White House Initiative on HBCUs.

(a) Establishment. There is established the White House
Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities
(Initiative), to be housed in the Department of Education
(Department).

(b) Mission and Functions. The Initiative shall work
with executive departments, agencies, and offices, the private
sector, educational associations, philanthropic organizations,
and other partners to increase the capacity of HBCUs to provide
the highest-quality education to a greater number of students,
and to take advantage of these institutions' capabilities in
serving the Nation's needs through five core tasks:

(i) strengthening the capacity of HBCUs to
participate in Federal programs;

(ii) fostering enduring private-sector initiatives
and public-private partnerships while promoting
specific areas and centers of academic research
and programmatic excellence throughout all HBCUs;

(iii) improving the availability, dissemination,
and quality of information concerning HBCUs to inform
public policy and practice;

(iv) sharing administrative and programmatic
practices within the HBCU community for the benefit
of all; and

(v) exploring new ways of improving the
relationship between the Federal Government and HBCUs.

(c) Administration. There shall be an Executive Director
of the Initiative. The Department shall provide the staff,
resources, and assistance for the Initiative, and shall assist
the Initiative in fulfilling its mission and responsibilities
under this order.

(d) Federal Agency Plans. (1) Each executive
department and agency designated by the Secretary of Education
(Secretary) shall prepare an annual plan (agency plan) of its
efforts to strengthen the capacity of HBCUs through increased
participation in appropriate Federal programs and initiatives.
Where appropriate, each agency plan shall address, among other
things, the agency's proposed efforts to:

(i) establish how the department or agency
intends to increase the capacity of HBCUs to compete
effectively for grants, contracts, or cooperative
agreements and to encourage HBCUs to participate in
Federal programs;

(ii) identify Federal programs and initiatives in
which HBCUs may be either underserved or underused as
national resources, and improve HBCUs' participation
therein; and

(iii) encourage public-sector, private-sector,
and community involvement in improving the overall
capacity of HBCUs.

(2) Each department and agency, in its agency plan,
shall provide appropriate measurable objectives and, after the
first year, shall annually assess that department's or agency's
performance on the goals set in the previous year's agency plan.

(3) The Secretary shall establish a date by which agency
plans shall be submitted to the Secretary. The Secretary and
the Executive Director shall review the agency plans in
consultation with the President's Board of Advisors on HBCUs,
established in section 3 of this order, and shall submit to the
President an annual plan to strengthen the overall capacity of
HBCUs.

(4) To help fulfill the objectives of these plans,
the head of each department and agency identified by the
Secretary shall provide, as appropriate, technical assistance
and information to the Executive Director for purposes of
communicating with HBCUs concerning program activities of the
department or agency and the preparation of applications or
proposals for grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements.

(5) To help fulfill the goals of this order, each
executive department and agency identified by the Secretary
shall appoint a senior official to report directly to the
department or agency head with respect to that department's or
agency's activities under this order, and to serve as liaison
to the President's Board of Advisors on HBCUs and to the
Initiative.

(e) Interagency Working Group. There is established
the Interagency Working Group, which shall be convened by the
Executive Director and that shall consist of representatives
from agencies designated by the Secretary, to help advance and
coordinate the work of Federal agencies pursuant to this order,
where appropriate.

Sec. 3. President's Board of Advisors on HBCUs.

(a) Establishment. There is established in the
Department the President's Board of Advisors on Historically
Black Colleges and Universities (the Board). The Board shall
consist of not more than 25 members appointed by the President.
The President shall designate one member of the Board to serve
as Chair, who shall coordinate with the Executive Director
to convene meetings and help direct the work of the Board.
The Board shall include representatives of a variety of
sectors, including philanthropy, education, business, finance,
entrepreneurship, innovation, and private foundations, as well
as sitting HBCU presidents.

(b) Mission and Functions. Through the Initiative,
the Board shall advise the President and the Secretary on all
matters pertaining to strengthening the educational capacity of
HBCUs. In particular, the Board shall advise the President and
the Secretary in the following areas:

(i) improving the identity, visibility, and
distinctive capabilities and overall competitiveness
of HBCUs;

(ii) engaging the philanthropic, business,
government, military, homeland-security, and education
communities in a national dialogue regarding new HBCU
programs and initiatives;

(iii) improving the ability of HBCUs to remain
fiscally secure institutions that can assist the
Nation in reaching its goal of having the highest
proportion of college graduates by 2020;

(iv) elevating the public awareness of HBCUs; and

(v) encouraging public-private investments in
HBCUs.

(c) Administration. The Executive Director of the
Initiative shall also serve as the Executive Director of the
Board. The Department shall provide funding and administrative
support for the Board to the extent permitted by law and within
existing appropriations. Members of the Board shall serve
without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for travel
expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as
authorized by law. Insofar as the Federal Advisory Committee
Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App.), may apply to the Board, any
functions of the President under that Act, except for those of
reporting to the Congress, shall be performed by the Secretary,
in accordance with guidelines issued by the Administrator of
General Services.

(d) Report. As part of the annual report of the
Initiative, the Board shall report to the President and the
Secretary on their progress in carrying out its duties under
this section.

Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) For the purposes of this
order, "historically black colleges and universities" shall mean
those institutions listed in 34 C.F.R. 602.8.

(b) This order shall apply to executive departments and
agencies designated by the Secretary. Those departments and
agencies shall provide timely reports and such information as is
required to effectively carry out the objectives of this order.

(c) The heads of executive departments and agencies
shall assist and provide information through the White House
Initiative to the Board, consistent with applicable law, as may
be necessary to carry out the functions of the Board. Each
executive department and agency shall bear its own expenses
of participating in the Initiative.

(d) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or
otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive
department, agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office
of Management and Budget relating to budgetary,
administrative, or legislative proposals.

(e) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.

(f) This order is not intended to, and does not, create
any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at
law or in equity by any party against the United States, its
departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees,
or agents, or any other person

(g) Executive Order 13256 of February 12, 2002, is hereby
revoked.



BARACK OBAMA



THE WHITE HOUSE,
February 26, 2010.