Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and the United Negro College Fund (UNCF)
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have been in existence since the Pre-Civil War era. The education of black people was strictly prohibited in the south and was highly discouraged in the north. The first HBCUs were established to teach the children of formerly enslaved black people to be able to teach other black people, and with only a few black colleges and universities in existence (Cheyney University (est. 1837), University of the District of Columbia (1851), Lincoln University (1854), and Wilberforce University (1856)), educating and getting the funding to educate black people was extremely difficult. Because HBCUs were more often than not the only education institutions available to black people, they often taught students of all levels ranging from primary to post-secondary education (HBCU First). Some famous graduates of HBCUs are Vice President Kamala Harris (Howard University), Oprah Winfrey (Tennessee State University), Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Morehouse College), The first black Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall (Lincoln University, Howard University), and NFL Hall of Famer and TV host, Michael Strahan (Texas Southern University) (HBCU First).
The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) was founded on April 25th, 1944 by Tuskegee University President, Frederick D. Patterson, civil rights activist, Mary McCleod Bethune, and activist, David J. Trent. The UNCF was found during World War II, a time when funding for black education was at a serious low. The organization has raised around five billion dollars and currently funds 39-41 HBCUs. The UNCF gives over 100 million dollars annually to 65,000 scholars so that they may attend the school of their choice, HBCU or otherwise. Today, the UNCF supports not only African-American students, but also Native Americans, Latinx, and Asian-Americans (Black Past). The UNCF if one of the main contributing reasons as to why HBCUs are still around after their financial panic during World War II (UNCF Encyclopedia). Famously, Senator John F. Kennedy (future President of the United States) donated the proceeds of his Pulitzer-Prize winning book Profiles in Courage to the UNCF. Other famous donors are John D. Rockefeller and Franklin D. Roosevelt (a top donor). The UNCF also has many famous alumni including Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., Alexis Herman, Samuel L. Jackson, and Spike Lee (Black America Web).
On April 28th, 1989, President George Bush issued Executive Order 12677 which strengthened the capacity of HBCUs to provide quality education and to increase their participation in federally sponsored programs. This mandated the taking of positive measures, by federal agencies, to increase the participation of HBCUs, their faculty and students, in federal programs. This also encouraged the private sector to aid the HBCUs (Title III Part B, SHBCUP). Title III of the Higher Education Act, as amended, authorized funds for enhancing HBCUs. The "Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities Program" allows grants to be distributed for "academic, administrative, and fiscal capabilities" and the "Strengthening Historically Black Graduate Institutions Program" provides grants to assist institutions in establishing and strengthening the physical plants, development offices, endowment funds, academic resources, and student services so that they may continue to participate in fulfilling the goal of equality and educational opportunity in graduate education (Title III Part B, SHBGIP).