on the advantages of his -- historically black challenges to five colleges and universities. i have two brothers who attended virginia state and they graduated from virginia state. i have know problems with my grade.average but they're is were not high. an opportunity to go to school, obtain there college degrees without having any problems getting in. >> you just have a committee that provides a comfort level for a lot of students who come to work with us. there is something to be said for that. that is why students go to notre dame georgetown because many of them feel

the comfort level in that environment they are comfortable because they've grown up in those environments and it can make a difference. one of the major advantages to my no this was good for me when we went to in ccu's and the faculty member said to us you didn't do this well enough you cannot blame it on racism, anything but ourselves. it it is interesting when you get challenged in those environments you understand that you need to respond. respond. unfortunately into many other environments because of the subtle racism that goes on in this country sometimes students we will wind up saying i did better i got a lower grade.

he rarely have those kinds of situations. by and large it is the whole notion of this is an environment in which i am comfortable so i can learn better. >> joining us h james williams'. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> tomorrow more from the washington journal tour. discussions about the state of hbcus and the future for these institutions. pres. beverly daniel tatum followed by our interview with the president of florida a&m university hear on c-span2.

>> washington journal tour of historically black colleges and universities continues with the president of morehouse college in atlanta. this is 40 minutes. host: c-span continues on in the month of february, taking a look at historic black colleges and universities. this is being in done -- being done in conjunction -- today, we make a stop in atlanta. a total of eight colleges ong our list. there is the c-span bus on campus. an onboard our bus president john silvanus wilson, junior. they give joining us. guest: good morning, pedro. host: part of your background includes working with the white house on something called an initiative on bcu's.

could you talk a little bit about that initiative, and what the white house policy is doing? ? guest: yes, i served under president barack obama as the executive director of hpc you -- hbcu. i happen to be president obama's appointee. the job of the executive director is to do whatever you can to increase the funding from the federal government to the 105, at that point hbcu's. so we worked with the federal agencies, the private sector all in an effort to strengthen the hbcu sector. i thought we got some pretty good results in my time there. the first term of barack obama. just before barack obama took

office, the federal government was channeling about $3.6 billion in two hbcu's. that is from all sources. and by the time i left, we were at roughly $5.3 billion. so that was significant progress. host: as i understand it, it was your time when the president instituted some changes, when it comes to power grants -- pell grants. was that the case? guest: the pell grants were greatly, greatly increased on our watch. as a matter of fact, that increased from $3.6 billion to $5.3 billion was largely in the area of grant and loan programs. i think most of your viewers will recall that there is a big

change in the policy, the federal policy would we took the banks out of the loop on loans and to direct lending. that gave a lot of money for the administration, and we channel that money across higher education. and hbcu's having a lot of financial aid recipients got a lot to talk of it. host: tell us about morehouse college. how much of it operating budget comes from the federal government in terms of grants or research and development, that kind of thing? guest: like most hbcu's, a lot of our students are recipients of financial aid. so we are talking 60% or 70% of our budget comes from students who are assisted by federal loans and grants and support from five it -- from private

sources, as well. so we care a lot about the federal posture towards these institutions, but the main important thing -- morehouse has really proved his worth. the obama administration recognized very early on that the nation cannot be as competitive as it needs to be in this world without the contribution from hubcu's. morehouse has certainly done its part. but all hbcu's are doing a very good job of contributing to the nation's competitiveness, and that is why the obama administration channeled a lot of support. it was really a good thing for america. host: morehouse is in all male college. why is that? guest: that is because the

founders made it so. we are right across the street from -- while we are a single-sex institution, it is a coeducational environment. i'm a graduate of morehouse, and in a large number of my classes, there was women right there. that we focus on the african-american male. we have been well rewarded for that focus, having such distinguished graduates as martin luther king junior, obviously, my classmate, j johnson, secretary of homeland security. martin luther king the third, my classmate. the former secretary of commerce in my class. so we have a number of distinguished men who have made an impact across the world. morehouse's value proposition

cannot be more clear, and on my watch, it is going to be a lot better. host: the president of morehouse college joining us as we take a look at historically black colleges and universities. he is on our c-span bus, which is in atlanta today. if you want to ask them questions, we have divided the light. (202) 748-8000 for if you have attended in hbcu. (202) 748-8001 for all others. if you want to send us an e-mail, you can do so at journal@c-span.org. over the last several series, we have been talking about the majors offered. tell us a little bit about your majors. do you see a shift in what can of majors you offer? guest: well, we have three -- three main divisions. one is the business division. and we have a number of

distinctive graduates who have come out of that division. we happen to be channeling many business graduates into the top business schools. i think we have two or three at harvard business school at any given time. on the other top business schools. so we have a strong business division. i was a business major at morehouse. we also have a strong humanities division. that division has come a lot of our political graduates, as well as our religion majors. i would say the three top hope it's in this country are all headed by morehouse men. kahlenberg in new york trinity in chicago, and right here in atlanta.

he is the head of the same church that martin luther king used the head up. so our humanities division is right strong. and then our stem division is also strong. that is going to be an episode -- an emphasis for me. i brought on a mathematician to strengthen our stem division. we are spending significant time in silicon valley on my watch is president for the past three years, and looking for great relationships there pointing at our stem division. we are even considering requiring all students who attend morehouse to know how to code by the time they graduate. so stem is a real focus for morehouse college, and you will see evidence of that as we strengthen that's division. host: the president of morehouse

college stoning us. christina from washington dc your first up. good morning. caller: good morning. i amex are watching for my desk here on capitol hill where we ask the work on these issues. i attended majority universities. first, great job. i think my question is, i have a daughter who is getting ready to graduate and we are looking at hbcu's and other colleges. my frustration is, since i graduated, the only information i get back from the hbcu's is on attending events. i received -- but i don't to the reach back. and also, are other issue is the leadership. we have had several presidents. i know morehouse has better reputation that way, but it affects the alumni's

relationship with the school. can you talk a little bit about how you are dealing with the leadership level, beyond the actual education, and how your reaching out to alumni to kind of keep that cycle and keep that passion for the hbcu going? host: thanks, christina. guest: thanks, christina. that is a great question. as i said, i'm a graduate of morehouse college, and i attended morehouse for four years. and then i spent six years at harvard university. getting to masters and a doctorate from harvard. i echo what you just said. i have moved from atlanta to boston to d.c. and i think i had mail waiting at my home whenever i made my moves from harvard by the time i got there, by the time i relocated.

so they know how to do that well. on my watch at morehouse, we have -- we are strengthening that. we are strengthening our advancement office in general, and our alumni outreach in particular. it is a priority. now, i haven't a know your current president at howard university. i think he is determined to make it a priority, too. this is something that we, as hbcu's, can do something about. i know that we have evidence of it at morehouse, and i know there is some evidence of it at howard so i think, christine, that the issue is leadership. and i think we have the right leadership in place right now to do something about it. host: fort lauderdale, florida. jonathan, you're up next. caller: yes, how are you doing? i actually have two comments. i know that at morehouse come

you guys do a great job of stressing kings's legacy. what are you guys have a community or college wide movement to do an antiwar movement? or stress the american system of economics? that is what king stood for. he stood for uniting the people. i kind of see more like people on the divide. everything being more divisible, as far as, like, using the black culture events and the police. it should be more unified, antiwar movements, which is what is going on in russia and ukraine tonight the union -- two unites the union movement. using not prop up black communities and making sure that

those who are in poverty can raise their standard of living. host: caller, thank you. guest: ok, so that was a little complex. i think i got the gist of it, but what you need to know about morehouse on that issue is we have, for many many years basically from the start emphasized servant leadership. servant leadership. so we don't have a narrow concern. obviously, we have a concern about the experience of the african-american male. we believe the image of the african-american male has been distorted towards a brokenness narrative. so we are always going to be concerned about that and want to do something about it, but we have never been narrow. dr. king, obviously, wrote about chaos over community. that was not a local viewpoint. that was not a georgia viewpoint, or regional, or even

an american viewpoint. it was global. concern about the global community. so we have set out graduates all over the world who have concerns for social justice. and to weigh in to servant leadership. so, i think your question about that kind of thinking and that kind of reach may be appropriate for other institutions, but morehouse, i think emma we are doing quite well in that area. host: there was an op-ed piece by david knight out of harvard university, talking about lack mail issues. many black males get this message they are at danger vulnerable, when they are much younger.

.. guest: well, it is sobering. and it is grounded in some data did we know that 86% of african-american boys are below reading proficiency by fourth grade. that ratifies for the rest of much of their lives. the new combined with that the kind of devastating educational statistics, the perceptual challenges that we have, where we are perceived as negative. then that compounds the problem. so i understand where the writer is coming from. morehouse is the antidote to that. morehouse is the answer to that. we believe that with more investment and more college

you're going to see that narrative shift of a very negative narrative, a problematic narrative, into a positive narrative where more african-american males are automatically perceived as forces for good. we know who we are. and we know -- we have evidence of great work here in the many graduates we have put into the world. so, whereas the writer summarizes a skewed towards the negative narrative, the brokenness narrative, we are hard at work on the opposite narrative. you're going to see that amplified on my watch as president of morehouse college. host: to add to that, sir, you have a program called "faces of manhood." what is that? guest: the "faces of manhood" is work on by our professors and staff to convey the range of

african-american males in this country. believe it or not while we are all african-american and all-male, there is significant diversity. there is not a sameness to african-american males. we have some of the arts. we have some in business. we have some in the sciences. the number one actor -- the highest grossing actor of all time is a morehouse man. that happens to be samuel l jackson. have a number of graduates who are in the stem areas. so the faces -- the faces project is meant to convey to the students at morehouse as they arrive, and to the graduates of my house -- graduates of morehouse, and to the world, that there is more than one way to be a morehouse man. the key is to be distinctive and productive in whatever field you choose to be an expert in.

host: our next call comes from houston, texas. caller: yes, i am in 1969 graduate of -- university. and i was simply like to thank you for bringing all of your skills and talents to your stewardship and leadership that morehouse. you have a fine history and legacy to maintain. and i'm confident that your success will continue. thank you very much. guest: thank you. thank you for that statement of support. guest: -- host: >> >> caller: i am the graduate from alabama and a and them and a sister who is the proud graduate of alabama's state and our father is a graduate of

morehouse college so we all have historically black colleges and my family. what you see is the biggest challenge facing historical black colleges and universities in the 21st century and what is the best solution and going forward? >> great question. i visited all three of those institutions, alabama's state as well as at the white house along with the president there of what i call space pyramid. most of us are undercapitalized there is

not an endowment that is more than four times of what it spends every year to operate state of the art in the business is at least five times talk about harvard and yale then it is 10 times so they have endowments that are $1 billion plus and hsbc see you is spelled and with the ratio of for that the endowment is four times the amount of money of what they spend every year. most of the others are below one. that is a problem that keeps us from being as competitive as we need to be. but if we can do this much great work with this kind of

capital base imagine what more we could do for this country and the world if we had a larger capital base. so what we're doing a more house is changing the way we talk about morehouse to put the value proposition on the story that we have to talk about it in a different way to attract more investors to morehouse college. there is already evidence of that but there will be more ahead. >> the average budget is 140 million. >> i was wondering how many white students you have that

york institution. nice talking to you i will take my answer off line. thank you. >>guest: thank you for the question. since i graduated 1979 we have had a handful of white students at morehouse college and we have a handful now. the percentage is pretty small. and the percentage will actually grow. in 2007 the of the the the jury in of morehouse college was a white american his name is josh. and i became president 2013 and within a few months i visited with joshua's doing quite well on wall street. he is as much j. morehouse college me and then any other man i could visit.

while we are historically black and majority african-american our doors have always been open. all students from all backgrounds, all male students have always been able to apply. and they have then served it is not a racial designation but it ties to their distinctiveness and josh is that way and a number of white students are destined for that same type of distinctiveness. i appreciate the question. >>host: in church teaching faculty all african-american? >> not even close. for a long time, for years we have had a diverse faculty. i don't know the percentage but upwards of one quarter

or 40% non african-american we have always had diversity on the faculty. that has been the case from the start when most were white teachers from the north. >> caller: good morning mr. president wilson. i am the member of spellman college. and i would like to know how our you working on the community? there has ben no lot of violence in advance of also a lot of violence toward your students and others at the atlanta university center and how are you treating your young man to stand up to prevent non-violence like dr. martin luther king and how to support each other for the community around them and though the women of spellman

and the brothers and sisters at clark atlanta of the committee of the west and. >>guest: that is a great question. i will say three things about that. first and foremost, i have a great relationship with spellman. in fact, that was on the board of trustees for a couple of years working with beverly and she advised me on that board. and the only reason i step down is to take the job at the white house. spellman is a great institution and i am so sad that beverly will be stepping down as president after 13 wonderful years and i applaud her and wish spellman well. the second response i have

is safety is the number one concern for all the institutions we all work together with the more powerful people in the city to make the surrounding environment a lot safer when you do not feel safe you cannot learn. we understand that. the third response i have is i am quite proud about the offense is we will make in the area of security because we just hired a new police chief. and her name is valerie dalton. she was working for the atlanta police department and assumed a the position there and we got her away from there now she is a police chief at morehouse college the first time we have had a woman and i could not be prouder.

she is absolutely the best choice we could have made. she just are a couple of weeks ago and we're already benefiting from her presence so i think your question about security will get the best investments of positive force right now from our new police chief justice see that change at and around our house college including spellman. >>host: day bill me on the program tomorrow morning at 15:00 a.m.. >> caller: great show today. and thank you dr. wilson for taking my call. i was surprised that junior colleges are not around anymore. south carolina state is facing $100 million deficit in talking about closing the

school for one year. is that a good idea or will we lose another historically black college? >> there is a lot of disruption in our education right now today. i think what is happening with south carolina and a number of places where there is a lot of stress. with a larger environment it will take some effective leadership to make a difference. i do think the sector will experience some shrinkage. when i was the student at morehouse college there were 300 women only colleges in the country now there are fewer than 50.

so the whole sector contracted. up 1.there were over 300h pce they went by the wayside i think we had 117 now is down at 100. so you will see some close their doors just like white institutions are closing fares and what will differentiate those years from now and those that are not is solid governance as the board of trustees from the senior staff and the president's office. but as far as south carolina's stage we will see what happens there. i wish them the best. i have relatives that used to teach as self carolina

and i care a lot about south carolina state. leadership will make the big difference. >>host: a viewer is asking for affirmative action is affecting those who possibly attend those and a historically black colleges and universities? >> affirmative action has been around for a long time. if by that the writer means in terms of opening the door is a predominantly white institutions that they are getting the same students that are traditionally in role that hbcu then that pressure was immediate in 1969 when the doors opened at a point when over 80 percent of african-americans who were in higher a education were in hbcu now it is 89% so

there has been some shrinkage. of course, had an effect. but we're still enrolling and graduating distinctive graduates. so while there is competition for sure, that is the good thing hbcu have held their own in the face of that competition and morehouse colleges at the top. >>host: what is your graduation rate? >> the secure great is between 55 and 60 percent. it is my intention in to do something about that. then made reason why students have to leave says financial back to the other question asking about the main challenge is the

financial challenge. >> caller: i am deeply pigment did psittacine raised by my mother and grandmother right now we have a lot of racial issues i would like to request the university's to all high school grade levels that we, as the human race separator cells from color because he dared not colored we have deep pigmentation it is a tone that is dna

specified. >>host: thank you. >>guest: i want to take that as a statement about diversity and i will say that morehouse colleges more than just an institution bound by callers -- color we were born at a time when african-americans needed an education so a number of institutions were forced to but more house and others contribute to higher education but morehouse is a special purpose institution and byu, under davis' catholic, a wellesley for women, a brandeis for jews morehouse and others hbcu contributor to america and

though world and that is a good thing. >> caller: john, this is class of 1979. [laughter] is there any class superior to the class of 1979? >> what a a question of. [laughter] >> thanks for calling. god bless. he is one of our more distinguished graduates in the class of '79 and he is right there in the lineup. there is a number of people i could name there is only one answer to the question that we are the best class but now that i am president i have to a acknowledge all the others and i am proud to do that because we have so

many young men who we're going out into the world more recently to do a good job. you would be proud because they have the number one in moot court team in the country right now so that is better than all the ivy league's and we won it the number one team in the country is from morehouse. the number one debate team we just won a championship and american championship mitt two teams in both made it to the finals and i know arete would was on the debate team when he was here. so we're still doing quite well. thank you for your call. >>host: art haywood the same senator from pennsylvania?

>> he is the same one and we're proud of him. >> caller: good morning. thank you very much. i appreciate what you we're doing. i think it is set to the individual to make it or break it and you we're doing a great job. keep up the good work and let's all get along. thank you. goodbye. >>guest: always good to get some love. >>host: going back from 20111 of the historical black colleges and universities that participated in a summit looking at gay and lesbian and trans gender issues. to those discussions still take place on campus? >> they do. we just hired a new vice president for student

development. he comes from rpi and we have already had discussions about that together with the students how to insure our campus is the most enlightened campus in america or in the world with though standard diversity issues. we have a general embrace strategy under way that we're executing right now but gender diversity certainly is a part of that and it is intentional. >>host: what led you to take these steps? >>guest: i don't thank you can be an enlightened

president this day and age not to have the progressive attitude about that. is just a statement. my inaugural address is a call that we are intending to have on this campus the most productive of undergraduate experience you can have been you can have the light in an undergraduate experience to be archaic on those issues with respect to a gender diversity. so what led me was our aspiration to have an extremely powerful undergraduate experience. is already powerful but could be more so and cannot be a mess we are in blatant. >> caller: president

wilson i congratulate you on continuing the tradition of the historically black colleges. i am the proud graduate of prairie view at the time i graduated we were one of the best engineering colleges around. in fact, my first job and i met an engineer and have never seen him before. he worked in an entirely different building. so congratulations and wish my grandchildren could have experienced the same thing. i just retired -- retired after 43 years with one company. so we have been productive.

>>host: we believe that there. thank you. >>guest: thank you for your call. i am familiar with a preview it is a strong institution and i am aware of their prowess in engineering. morehouse has developed the great program with georgia tech so we are in the business of creating engineers does well and also know that we will get a boost in engineering at morehouse because i happened to be married to an engineer as well. born and raised here in atlanta and educated stanford undergrad and m.i.t. and two master's and ph.d. in electrical and engineering. she will be coming to a band of very sure the to be on the faculty at georgia tech

and the first lady of of morehouse college a different type of first lady will influencing custom division with emphasis on engineering and we are very happy about that. and i am proud of that. >> caller: might comment is about affirmative action. first of all, i am a democrat but i think affirmative action did more for the colleges than anything else but i have two sisters do graduated in a friend to graduated from morehouse and of all of those people is then i grew

up does the block mason and i send money to some of these colleges but they do support these colleges. >>guest: i will respond to the first part of your question. i disagree adult think affirmative action was as devastating for hbcu. but i will speak for morehouse. we have been quite effective in the face of the competition spawned by affirmative action and we aren't looking to be as magnetic as we can be rather the forces of competition are stimulated by affirmative action or anything else. there was a lot of noise made about the notion of community colleges have been free and what we say that is

the good thing because 1.3 billion african-americans are in community colleges but may try to be so powerful that if every other institution in the country is free and then you will pay to come to morehouse. we are that good. >>host: that is the president of morehouse college joining us on the c-span bus as part of the. [inaudible] of hbcu. thank you for your time president wilson

. . >> the government comes to the fathers and they say we have a deal for you. we will reunite you with your families in the crystal city internment camps the family interment camps if you will agree to go voluntarily and then

i discovered what the real secret of the camp was. they also had to agree to voluntarily repatriate to germany and japan if the government decided they needed to be repatriated. so the truth of the matter is the crystal city camp was humanely administered by the ims but the special war divisions and the department of state's used it as roosevelt's primary prisoner exchange at the center of roosevelt's prisoner exchange program.