dr. blanchard. i was calling in reference to commending you on being such a great mentor to so many, so many young students in the city of new orleans. you have not only started in higher education but also i've remember you as a student at xavier university where you worked with so many young students not only in eighth grade but -- groups and also were spiritual adviser. i want to tell you you are such a wonderful wonderful person. you took a parent who went back into education and you worked with her as a mentor. she graduated with honors from a public university and she also became a teacher of kindergarten for 22 years. >> host: thank you caller. >> guest: you have never seen a black man blush before here i am. i thank you for that. it's a whole community approach of knowing that you have got to reach back and it takes one to pull up another and if everybody really believes an understanding that it really takes a village in order to work for students and get them where they need to be as well a

dr. blanchard, thank you for joining us. dr. anchard: thank you for this opportunity and for the spotlight you are placed on xavier and the other hbcus. it means a lot. pedro: eight total universities we have covered over the last month or so starting at howard university. fisk in that group.

dr. blanchard: the confucius institute. we are no longer the only, but we were the first to establish a confucius institute. for the promotion of chinese language and culture. it has been remarkable in terms of our efforts to internationalize both our curriculum as well as our student experiences and to give students the opportunity to connect very deeply and richly with china and understanding chinese practices as it relates to business, pharmaceutical practices, education, as it relates to art and music. it has been not only humbling but a beautiful opportunity for students to be able to connect with universities in china, with faculty and students, and understanding the differences that lie in our cultures, but also in terms of understanding the kinds of practices that we have that are more westernized versus asian in nature. the confucius institute has been good for xavier. it is not only enabling our students, and faculty, to study students and faculty to study abroad and to engage in research internationally across di

dr. blanchard, thanks for. bl joining us. >> host: what is your job and, specifically, what does it mean for academic pursuits at xavier university? >> guest: well, i'm serving as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs you're absolutely right that provost title was recently added to give a greater level of support to our president, president francis, where i now serve as his key adviser not only on academic goals and issues, but also operational issues. in addition to that, it provides me the opportunity to serve as the primary coordinator of the work of all of the vice presidents here on xavier's campus to make sure that we're laze arer focused -- laser focused on the goals that we have established here that we need to achieve strategically. in addition to that, it provides me the opportunity to give some additional support to dr. francis to go out and to not only spread the word about the great achievements that are happening on this campus, but also to lobby for dollars for some of the critic

dr. blanchard. guest: the reality is that while we are a liberal arts university, savior is really -- xavier -- our claim to fame has been our clinical work that we have made over three or four decades now in preparing students for stem disciplines and stem careers. xavier has a unique honor of standing as the number one institution in the united states and the number of african-american students in particular that we prepare to go on to medical school. we also have the unique distinction of being number one in the nation and prepare the largest number of african-american students who complete medical school. we are also number three in the nation right behind howard and spellman and the number of african-americans who go on to pursue a complete phd's in stem disciplines. we also produce the highest number of pharmacists throughout the country. with that, there is a strong focus obviously on stem. there's also a strong focus on the kind of curricular experiences, research expenses service experience

dr. blanchard, thank you for joining us. dr. blanchard: thank you for this opportunity and for the spotlight you are placed on xavier and the other hbcus. it means a lot. pedro: eight total universities we have covered over the last month or so starting at howard university. fisk in that group. tuskegee. if you want to see all of these interviews, you can do so if you go to our website at c-span.org. they are archived for you to view. you want to thank the work of these universities. thank you for your participation. that is the washington journal for today. ♪ >> are series on historically black colleges and universities has been re-air and the past couple of days. today on c-span two starting at 6:20 p.m., our program on tuskegee university. coming up, president obama addresses the winter meeting of the democratic national committee in washington. our live coverage starts in about -- at about 11:10 a.m. eastern. next up, a potential -- a discussion on hillary clinton and a potential presidential bid. it is moderated by former ab

dr. blanchard thanks for joining us. guess the thank you very much for this opportunity and for the spotlight you have placed on xavier and the other hbcus. >> next jonathan horn recounts robert e. lee's decision to join the confederate army after being sought by the north and the south. from louisville kentucky, it's about an hour. >> it's my pleasure to introduce dr. horn. he is an author and former white house presidential speechmaker who spent years researching and writing his robert e. lee biography "the man who would not be washington" published in january of this year. jonathan has appeared as a commentator on "msnbc" and nbc radio. his writing has appeared in "the new york times"" "the weekly standard" and other outlets. during his time the white house jonathan served as a speechwriter and special assistant to president george bush and as a graduate of io university and we welcome him to louisville university. [applause] >> thank you so much for that lovely introduction judy. as was mentioned i used to work as a

dr. lorin blanchard. >> live events to tell you about tomorrow on c-span.he potomac institute for policy studies host an event on combating terrorism. speakers include ambassadors from egypt and iraq. that is live at 2:00 p.m. eastern. later in the day at work on, retired general john allen fixed to the threat posed by isis. he proudly serves as envoy for the coalition against isis and was a number commander of operations in afghanistan. >> consumer advocate ralph nader entered the 2000 presidential race as a green party candidate on february 21 of that year. he received nearly 3 million votes overall, including almost 100,000 in the pivotal state of florida. mr. nader ran for president four times. this is about half an hour. >> good morning. my name is ralph nader, and today i wish to explain why, after working years as a citizen advocate for consumers, workers, taxpayers, and the environment i am seeking the green party's nomination for president. a crisis of democracy in our country convinces me to take this action. over the past 20 years, big business h