January 13, 2023
Today’s White House announcement is a promising step toward supporting and raising visibility of Historically Black Colleges and Universities and the critical role that they play in this country. The racist bomb threats that have targeted these schools have taken aim at that incredible legacy of work, seeking to create fear and division in order to tear down these institutions and the communities they serve.
We cannot stand by and allow attacks on Black communities to continue. We must acknowledge and confront the role that race plays in this country, and the ways in which people seek to weaponize it to control opportunity. I applaud Secretary Cardona for his recognition of the deep effects these threats have had on HBCUs, and for his efforts to help these institutions heal. We must not stop here, and all of us across higher education must recommit to our efforts to advance inclusion and fight racism.
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The National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) is the preeminent voice for chief diversity officers. As the leader of the national conversation on diversity, equity, and inclusion, it investigates, influences, and innovates to transform higher education so that inclusive excellence lives at its core.