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Trump May Give Historically Black Colleges Opportunities Obama Didn't

Trump is expected to sign an executive order related to historically black colleges.
Posted at 12:48 PM, Mar 01, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-01 12:48:35-05

President Donald Trump is trying to improve the White House's relationship with historically black colleges and universities.

In anticipation of a new executive order, Vice President Mike Pence and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos met with HBCU leaders Monday for a listening session.

Many details of the order Trump is scheduled to sign Tuesday are under wraps, but CBS reports it will move the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities back under the White House's control.

The initiative started with an executive order from President Jimmy Carter in 1980. It was designed to help black colleges and universities expand and overcome discrimination.

Currently, the Education Department runs it. HBCU leaders say returning it to the White House would give their schools more access to the president.

The HBCU community asked former President Barack Obama to do this same thing, but according to Politico, they never heard back.

While Obama was extremely popular with black voters, his relationship with HBCU leaders was strained at times.

But HBCU leaders don't have complete trust in Trump, either. The Washington Post reports many advocates are skeptical of his intentions.

Beyond moving the initiative, HBCU leaders want Trump to roughly double their federal funding.