A mid-September conference on historically black colleges and universities will go on as scheduled, despite reports it had been postponed in the wake of last month’s racially charged violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Omarosa Manigault Newman, director of communications for the White House Office of Public Liaison, said the Sept. 17-19 gathering has been moved to the White House from a hotel in Northern Virginia, the Associated Press reported.
The White House has been pressured by some to cancel the conference after President Trump blamed “both sides” for violence between white nationalists and counterprotesters in Charlottesville, where one woman was killed.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February establishing a White House initiative to promote excellence and innovation at HBCUs, which served as an alternative for higher education at a time when blacks weren’t allowed to enroll at white colleges and universities.
Manigault Newman said the White House will announce an executive director for its initiative on black colleges on Sept. 18.
