Several weeks ago, I wrote about how President Barack Obama’s new drug czar Gil Kerlikowske was attempting to change the dialogue surrounding illegal drug use. He is not alone among President Obama’s new appointees.

President Barack Obama recently selected John Silvanus Wilson, Jr. as his point person for  Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).  In the Higher Education Act of 1965, Congress provided for funding for HBCUs to remedy the historic effects of racism and discrimination.  The funding continues to this day.

According to Inside Higher Ed, Dr. Wilson wants HBCUs to move away from the “against great odds” and “survival and maybe victimization” narrative and toward a focus on “thriving not merely surviving.”  While this theoretically weakens the overall justification for HBCU funding, I appreciate Dr. Wilson’s effort.  No institution, whether historically black or historically white, is going to thrive if it wallows in self-pity and always has a ready excuse for failure.

West Virginia has two HBCUs – West Virginia State University and Bluefield State College.  Both are on the surviving side of the surviving/thriving continuum with low graduation rates and serious financial challenges.  They need to figure out how to make the transition that Dr. Wilson is advocating.