EPA Establishes an Internal Council to Identify Opportunities for Greater Partnership with Historically Black Colleges and Universities

As part of a larger agency strategy, EPA’s HBCU Council will review the agency’s recruitment, resources, research, and community engagement efforts and provide recommendations to strengthen support of schools and students

WASHINGTON (Feb. 22, 2022) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the creation of an internal council charged with helping the agency foster stronger relationships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). This internal council will identify enhanced opportunities for recruitment of students and support for institutions through grants, contracts, transparent data sharing and community engagement, consistent with law. This announcement comes as EPA kicks off a week celebrating HBCUs during Black History Month.

“HBCUs have produced some of the greatest minds in American history and as we continue the mission of protecting human health and the environment, these vital institutions are helping us lead the charge,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “That’s why I’m proud to create this council to assess ways we can strengthen our recruitment of students and provide broader support to help fortify HBCUs into the future.”

The HBCU council is one part of EPA’s broader HBCU strategy that will be developed in the coming months. The council is comprised of volunteer staff from EPA headquarters, and program and regional offices. The group will identify opportunities for immediate enhancement for recruitment, resources, research, and community engagement. The council will also be charged with determining how EPA can support HBCUs as leader in climate change, climate resiliency, and environmental justice during this administration and into the future. The council’s findings and recommendations will be submitted to Administrator Regan for review and incorporation in the agency’s broader strategy for engagement with HBCUs, which is expected in May.

“It is fantastic to see the EPA finally lift up HBCUs since our schools have played an outsize role over the decades in training generations of leaders and seeding justice movements—including environmental and climate justice,” said Dr. Robert D. Bullard, environmental justice pioneer and Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning & Environmental Policy at Texas Southern University. “Hopefully, this new EPA initiative will help strengthen the education and training infrastructure, research centers, and community-university partnerships at HBCUs and support organizations that uniquely serve some of our most vulnerable populations and communities.”

EPA’s efforts are aligned with Executive Order 14041, White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity Through Historically Black Colleges and Universities, issued in September 2021, which instructs agencies to “advance equity in economic and educational opportunities for all Americans, including Black Americans, strengthen the capacity of HBCUs to provide the highest-quality education, increase opportunities for these institutions to participate in and benefit from Federal programs, and ensure that HBCUs can continue to be engines of opportunity.”

“I am grateful that EPA is making this commitment to HBCUs. Our work with HBCUs prepares students to apply research and analysis to the pressing problems of environmental racism and the climate crisis facing Black communities,” said Dr. Beverly Wright, Executive Director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice and Co-Director of the HBCU Climate Change Consortium.

During Administrator Regan’s Journey to Justice Tour last November, leaders from Jackson State University, Tougaloo College, and Texas Southern University, expressed a desire for EPA to provide greater opportunities for students to gain experience in environmental fields and for their schools and others to be considered for more federal funding as they tackle the environmental challenges that plague vulnerable communities. Discussions with these leaders and those from schools across the country reinforced the agency’s commitment to supporting the environmental advocates of the future.

“EPA’s partnering with HBCUs is significant to prepare the next generation of leaders to navigate the nation’s most complex issues and make significant changes to protect our environment,” said Tougaloo College President Dr. Carmen J. Walters.