Great question. Thank you. I believe we have to first go out into the communities where we want to expand. So that we can take our message to them. And its a couple of minutes ago i was talking about walking the walk. F we go into churches and to schools where people are, and we start to teach them, to share with them our wisdom and our knowledge, and let them understand what our values are, this is really a values battle. If we let people know that we are the party of values, and we help them. We care about them. Im here to teach you young men how to be daddies or im here to teach you young ladies how to be mothers. Or many of us are bankers. Go into high schools and teach them how to manage bank accounts. If we go first thing that we must do is to go into other communities. And to let them know that we care. And we are there to share our wisdom, our knowledge, our expertise with them. And to make life better for them. If they see that, they will come with us. Because their values are the values of our party. Black folk, im shocked. Im not shocked. There should be half of this room filled with black folk because black folk are so conservative. Our values are basic american values. But we have not gone and talked to them. We have to go and remind them of the history of this party. Which is the history which is the history of civil rights and equal rights and equality. Richard nixons best president during my lifetime. Nobody, Richard Nixon . He was a great president , and i think that history will bear him out. But i talked to black folk about Richard Nixon and all that we accomplished for equality during the Richard Nixon administration. If we do more of that, i think that we will bring more people to our side. Thank you. Thank you all. [applause] next the president of the United Negro College fund, michael lomax, on the future of his organization. Then president and mrs. Obama welcoming olympians to the white house. After that a discussion about journalism and National Security with the journalists who received n. S. A. Files from dward snowden. On newsmakers jason furman chair of the White House Council of economic advisors, he will discuss unemployment and the current labor market and debate over the minimum wage, income inequality and the affordable carry act. Newsmakers sunday at 10 00 a. M. And 6 00 p. M. Eastern on span. In may, 1918, amid wild celebration, the first americanbuilt planes arrived in france. A british d. Dh4 design with a power liberty engine. That fall, allied aircraft smashed supplies and communications behind the enemy lines on newest argon front. Five weeks later, the armistice was signed. Johnny came marching home. And after speeches and returning to the farms, shops and offices. But not the pilots who survived the great adventure of the wild plu yonder. With firm faith in the future and importance of aviation, using castoff crates and obsolete equipment, many demonstrated their skills at state fairs. And to any large gathering they could find. The u. S. Air force chronicles the history of american aviation. Sunday on American History tvs real america. At 4 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan3. Next, michael lomax, the president and c. E. O. Of the United Negro College fund. He talks about the challenges his organization faces. In continuing its mission of advancing Higher Education for students of color. This is an hour. Good afternoon. And welcome. My name is maron belkin, adjunct and graduate school of political management. The former bureau chief for the associated press, and the 107th president of the National Press club. The National Press club is the worlds leading professional organization for journalists. Committed to our professions future, through our programming, with events such as this. While fostering a free press worldwide. For more information about the National Press club, please isit our website at www. Press. Org. And to donate to programs offered to the public through our National PressClub Journalism institute, please www. Press. Org institute. On behalf of our members worldwide, i would like to welcome our speaker and those of you attending todays event. Our head table includes guests of our speaker as well as working journalists who are club members. If you hear applause in our audience, i note the members of the general public are attending. So it is not necessarily evidence of a lack of journalistic objectivity. I would also like to welcome our cspan and public radio audiences. You can follow the action on twitter. Using the npclunch. After our guest speech concludes, well have a question and answer period. I will ask as many questions as time permits. Now its time to introduce our head table. I would like to ask each of you to stand briefly as your name is mentioned. On my left, your right, markhamert, the Washington Bureau chief of bankright and former n. P. C. President. Oy johnson, wnew, whur and nbc 4. Joe madison of sirius x. M. Satellite radio. Jerrys remsky of buffalo news and chair of the n. P. C. Speakers committee and a former National Press club president. Skipping over our speaker for a moment, captain kevin wensing, u. S. Navy retired and Speakers Committee members who organized todays event. Thank you, kevin. Tamika smith of radio one. Larry bevins of gannett, retired and former n. P. C. Board member. And nyrie wright, m. S. L. Group corpus and chair of the n. P. C. 5k committee. [applause] theyre historically black colleges and produced alumni who made history. From the reverend Martin Luther king jr. To Justice ThurgoodTony Morrison and congressman john lewis who is coming right from the hill. All of these graduates of these schools have gone on to lead in fields ranging from politics to literature, to the arts. And for 70 years, the United Negro College fund has been the financial lifeline thats allowed many of the students at historically black colleges to thrive. Every year, the fund provides more than 100 million in scholarships to tens of thousands of students. Over the decades, the fund has raised and distributed more than 3 billion in educational assistance. And in 1999 was the beneficiary of a 1 billion gift from the bill and Melinda Gates foundation. 1 billion may seem like a lot of money, even here in washington. But the need is so great that for the United Negro College fund, even 1 billion will run out eventually. And thats just one of the challenges the United Negro College fund faces as it enters its eighth decade. Here to address those challenges is our guest today, dr. Michael l. Lomax. President and chief executive of the United Negro College fund. A native of los angeles, dr. Lomax graduated from Morehouse College and embarked on a career as a literature professor. He later served as president of Dillard University before taking the helm at the college fund. In 2004. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in giving a warm National Press club welcome to dr. Michael lomax. [applause] thank you, myron. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. And great thanks to all of you for joining us today. To discuss the current state of Educational Opportunities for College Students of color in the country. And particularly the challenges facing our historically black colleges and universities for hbcu. As i look around the room i feel certain a great majority of you know who we are at the United Negro College fund and what we do. Im also aware that Many Americans of a diverse background know us primarily for our iconic motto a mind is a terrible thing to waste. Without knowing precisely what our role is. Let me take a few moments to clarify. Uncf was formed in 1944. Yes, we are in our 0th year of existence. To consolidate the fundraising for a group of americans historically black colleges. Uncf core mission has always been to help fund these vital institutions that have brought Educational Opportunities to africanamericans for over 100 years. During our 07 years we have helped more than 400,000 students graduate from our partner schools by raising nearly 4 billion. Over time, we have developed a profile as a premium wellrun nonprofit and an efficient manager of donated dollars. This led the bill and Melinda Gates foundation to entrust us with 1. 6 billion in grants beginning in 1999 to be used for scholarships for all communities of color. Today, we support more than 12,000 students at 900 schools across the country each year. But our core Mission Remains our partnership with 37 private fouryear hbcus and to advocate for all 105 hbcus, a number that includes the statesupported historically black institutions as well. Today, our member schools are facing a financial crisis as uncfs s any in history. Pressured by years of rising costs, even though uncf member schools have operating budgets that average less than 50 of those of other fouryear private colleges. That is to say they tend to have much lower tuitions and are in many ways a best buy in education. The irony of the situation is that the financial crisis comes at a time when interests by africanamerican High School Students in attending hbcus has been on the rise for over a decade. Between the 2001 and 2002 academic year, and the 20122013 year, uncf member institutions saw a 78 rise in applications. At a 64 increase had in admissions. These numbers are comparable to all fouryear institutions. But while enrollment at all fouryear institutions rose by 21 over that period, enrollment at uncfs member hbcus remained essentially flat. Rising by only 5 . Why . The answer is simple. Lack of funding for scholarships. Hbcus tend to draw students from comparatively low income families and the need for Financial Aid is significant. Uncf is working hard to meet the Strong Demand by young africanamericans for an education at our member schools. But donations have not kept pace with that demand. Particularly in the aftermath of the great recession. The good news is that the demand is there. Im often asked, how colleges that serve an almost exclusively black population can still be relevant in todays world. Why, im asked, would a young africanamerican want to attend one of these institutions . Well, for one thing, hbcus do a very good job educating these students. Hbcu graduates from laser focused on getting jobs. Thats why they go to college. They understand the critical importance of a College Degree in todays economy. Most hbcu students major in business. Or a businessrelated field like accounting. Many are interested in the stem subjects, science, technology, engineering and math. They know where the jobs are. There are deeper reasons for continued demand for hbcus, however. Ive talked to thousands of students about their interest in attending an hbcu. And they tend to raise three points to explain why they want to attend an hess torquely black college. First, they say the schools feel like home. They feel like family. Second, they believe hbcus will let them explore themselves as an individual. Rather than as a statistic. And finally, at an hbcu, they feel they can learn more about where they come from. This is a powerful set of motivators that echoes research from uncfs frederick d. Patterson research institute. And i believe will continue to motivate students for years to come. Desire and high motivation, however, are not the same as scholarship funding. I have found it personally painful to see the number of applications for the Scholarships Available through uncf skyrocket while the number of scholarships themselves has grown much more slowly. The ratio of applications to available scholarships is approaching 101. At uncf, we all agree that this has to change. We have redoubled our efforts to increase donations and revamped our operations to better serve uncf members and our students. The reality of these bright young people with dreams for a College Education but desperately needing scholarships led to last years update of our Fundraising Campaign which we called Better Futures. We need to raise the level of urgency of our appeal to donors and highlight the impact of a College Education for everyone. But particularly for africanamericans and students of color. We needed to look at funding for scholarships at hbcus less as an isolated donation and more as an investment in the future. It is an investment in the future of young black men and women and an investment in the future of their communities and an investment in the future of the wellbeing of our society. So our iconic motto recognized according to research by over 90 of americans has been changed to reflect the urgent need to create Better Futures. Our new motto reads a mind is a terrible thing to waste, but a wonderful thing to invest in. And investing in students through uncf works. Our Patterson Research institute examines the effectiveness of our scholarships and found that an africanamerican freshman who receives a 5,000 uncf scholarship returns for her ophomore year at a 94 rate. Raduates in six years at a 70 rate. Which is considerably higher than the 59 sixyear grad wakes rate at all our fouryear colleges. And sees her likelihood of raduating increase by over 7 . So let me make this point clear for you. The sixyear Graduation Rate for africanamericans is 40 . If we could increase that rate by over 7 , we would graduate close to 16,000 more africanamericans with bachelors degrees each year. That is an investment that pays dividends not only for those students but also to the investors and the country at large. This data and other Economic Impact research undergirds our campaign so when we talk about an investment in uncf, as an investment in Better Futures, we have the numbers to back it up. Feed jag on the new campaign from supporters has been positive. And we are optimistic for the future. But the financial crisis at our hbcu members is happening right now. Today. It is real. And it has been made worse by changes made by the department of education in october 2011. To the credit requirements for parent plus loans. These loans are one of the most important supports for Higher Education provided by the u. S. Government. And they happen to be a major Funding Source for college by africanamerican parents who are willing to make great sacrifices to help their children realize their dreams of a College Degree. We were blindsided by the changes that literally from one day to the next made many thousands of these parents ineligible for parent plus loans. The impact on students who depended on parent plus funds was immediate. And devastating. Many who arrived at their College Dorms after the summer break in the fall of 2012 were literally turned away at the door. Eventually, some 28,000 hbcu students felt the shock of the changes to parent plus. Many were forced to drop out of school. Bcus themselves lost 155 million in revenue in 20122013 alone. Further straining already tight budgets. It is astounding that this administration that has set itself up as a great promoter of education could have pursued a policy change so detrimental to the education of so many young people. And to make the change with no public discussion. No advanced communication. And zero effort to give parents and students timely information and potential alternatives with simply was simply irresponsible. After more than two years this situation has remained essentially unchanged. Despite widespread concerns by parents and the efforts of a Broad Coalition of organizations. With a leading role played by members of the congressional black caucus. The only effort to rectify the situation has been a letter by secretary duncan to the c. B. C. To announce a program to allow parents to appeal their parent plus status and plan to make to take a look at the credit criteria through a lengthy regulatory process. Not an acceptable solution. In the face of this situation, uncf has made a special appeal to our supporters for emergency funding to replace the lost parent plus loans with scholarships for students forced to drop out of school. I want to thank the many individual, philanthropic and corporate donors who have responded to our appeal. Let me be clear. That uncf believes that both parent plus loans and the more widely used pell grants, as well as all of the federal loan programs, need attention by the government so they will better serve students facing todays realities in College Education. Draconian overnight changes are not the way to proceed. Whats needed is a more thoughtful, collaborative process. However, we are also aware that in washington, collaboration is lamentably in short supply. You know, there was a time when partnership did not stand in the way of progress. That when partisanship, pardon me, when partisanship did not stand in the