 So we got to have a conversation about this picture if you've seen it lately this picture of Papa John's found a John's snatter at a Trump rally and The reason we have to have a conversation about it in this space is because Papa John's in recent weeks and months has been Intimately connected to HBCs in one way or another just if almost a year ago Papa John's gave a half million dollar donation to Bennett College in the midst of its accreditation Issues and trying to help that school Secure financial solvency. They've given gifts to Simmons College of Kentucky Kentucky is where the Papa John's corporation is based out of All of this is in the aftermath of John snatter The founder and former CEO of Papa John's Haven't been discovered to make racially insensitive and inflammatory remarks and he's ousted from his position Leading the company but still remains on his board And over the course of the last month Papa John's has launched a campaign with Shaquille O'Neal To try to Quote-unquote bring a better day to Papa John's in order in other words A better day for black folks to believe in the pizza product And Shaquille O'Neal is leading that initiative and part of that initiative Is the effort to bring Papa John's franchises to HBC use I Don't know if Papa John's realizes it if John snatter realizes it If a lot of the corporate heads around Papa John's realize it But If they haven't or they are unwilling to They're going to find it's going to be a hard financial road To connect with HBC use on this tip And it's for this reason if you don't understand And therefore a lot of black folks across the country And particularly at HBC use across the country That Donald Trump The trump administration a trump rally a trump political rally Is quickly becoming the living and breathing version Of the confederate flag To our communities Yet There's no purpose In trying to Sell us somebody who's willing to carry That confederate flag and say ignore that there's something we can do for you now There's a big difference Particularly coming from me because over the last three years or so i've been adamant and will continue to be adamant And I love him or hate him whether you think he's a racist or not HBC use proper HBC uses institutions Still have to interface with the federal government with the white house To secure resources to be apolitical To make sure that our long-term interests are served I tell people all the time in writing in person in speeches You can't have it both ways. You can't say ignore trump in one respect. Don't have him come to your campus Don't go to a meeting. Don't participate in quote-unquote photo ops But then you want your schools to be Eligible for grants from the u.s. Department of Education You can't not interface with trump and not interface with the people who support him And then say but we need more resources particularly from public The public trust the federal government state governments when the majority of our institutions Are in republican leaning or republican dominated states So you can't have it both ways. You can't ignore him But then say oh can we use your administration to help us get by and stay open? It doesn't work that way and it doesn't work that way with any political party But the papa johns thing is a lot different This is not taxpayer dollars that we're talking about This isn't money that black folks have paid into a system and have to work politically To leverage the most out of that system so that we can get a return on our tax paid investment Okay, so that there's a big difference between that and corporate interfacing Shack was going to introduce a plan to quote unquote bring a papa johns to every hbcu across the country This was going to start at miles college Now this picture is surface So the guy who founded papa johns who still owns an ownership of a substantial ownership stake in the franchise The guy who may not be the face of the company anymore, um, but certainly has a voice in its direction And certainly has Uh skin in the game in terms of ideology about how to grow business who to market to what kind of message is to send This is this is not This is not political gamesmanship This is not, um, taxpayer dollars This is not leveraging the public trust for our benefit At this point if we're connecting hbcu to papa johns And a guy who still has an ownership stake in the corporation Is showing up to trump rallies And still willing to be showcased as a person who supports ideas and supports Controversial presence That is more than offensive to our communities This appears to be a brand that we can't and shouldn't align with Not because we're unwilling to work with people with different ideas Not because hbcu communities are unwilling to work with white folks not even because we're unwilling to work with conservatives We are willing to do all three We're not willing to be trolled We're not willing to be a community that says you can break us off with a few pennies or you can find An african-american and convince us of anything Um, you can piss on our head and tell us it's raining. This is not trump Even though johnsnatter was at a trump rally He ain't trump He's not somebody who's going to be in control of the purse strings for another year or potentially another five years Who's going to pick the person who's going to distribute grants? and financial aid structure And resources to colleges across the country John snatter is not the guy who forgives loans To private hbcu's that were ravaged by hurricane Katrina. He's not the guy Who's giving or trying to mandate that states do better in matching funding for some of our land grant colleges He's not the guy Who is is working to mandate year-round pale John snatter ain't trump But he loves trump We don't And unlike trump whom our communities have to work with we don't have to have a papa johnson every campus And if this guy and his political beliefs Are so strong And so powerful to him That he's willing as a public face of a company still even though he's not in the commercials flipping dough and all that If he's still willing to make himself a public caricature Of trump support and trump mania Then that's a mania that our campuses don't need Because the last thing that we need to do even if it even if it costs us money Even if it costs us a couple gifts because the truth be told papa johnson hasn't broken off multi million dollars to an hbcu $500,000 to benet was a marketing campaign just like they're doing with shack now And every every store that they want to put on an hbcu campus was going to be revenue for them Off of our backs and you're not going to make money off of us when somebody who's still attached with your company Wants to troll our sensibilities right or wrong It's not for me to say oh, you know John snatter shouldn't be connected with hbcu just because he supports trump There's a whole bunch of trump supporters that that work with hbc's on a daily basis inside and outside of politics But the front-facing idea That he can continue to be a face of trump support particularly corporate support Is not one that goes well with hbcu communities right or wrong And I think it's best now if papa johnson just cuts this rules Stops playing us for fools and thinking oh, we'll get shack and he'll convince black folks to to love us again Not really man Shack can show up on any hbcu campus. He wants he'll get a lot of love He's not going to be welcome with that papa johnson's pizza box He didn't go to an hbcu He may be a donor He may be an advocate And he ain't that good That our communities are willing to be trolled corporately By a guy who shows up at a trump rally, which at this point is the equivalent the modern day equivalent of carrying a confederate flag around or going to a cross burning Just because he doesn't show up on our campus Doesn't mean shack makes it any better It's not to suggest that we don't need corporate support It's not to suggest that papa johnson Isn't the ideal partner for hbcu It's just that while this guy Is attached to the company He's not the ideal face of uniting with our community And until they get that Until they're able to rein him in Or disassociate themselves from this person There's no possible way that students alumni faculty Are going to accept this corporation coming to our campuses because to them and reasonably so Papa johnson's popping up on hbcu campuses across the country Is a slow descent Into everything that is against what we stand for That will will do anything for the money Will do anything for the clout Now we should do a lot of stuff for the for the political clout Because without it our schools can close and a lot of people don't agree with me when I say that not understand it I understand the emotion. I understand the politics. I understand the cultural Remifications of all of that the truth of the matter is 80 to 90 of our campuses run off federal dollars We got to work with whoever is in the white house and whoever their proxies are in the various agencies But papa johnson's ain't the white house And if papa johnson thinks that they can send a black agent and convince us of anything While their biggest agent Is telling another story Then they need to know right now That every dollar they spend And every message they create And every moment they spend planning is going to be all for naught because the community is going to reject it