 Ladies and gentlemen the president on the United States. Thank you. Thank you very much Please be seated and thank you. Dr. Margaret Seegers and dr. Paul. Hooray for putting this conference together I'm looking forward to receiving a copy of your final report It's a pleasure to be here today with the presidents and supporters of colleges and universities that has meant so much to American life From the day the first black college Cheney University opened its doors in 1837 the institutions that you represent Support have been an important and irreplaceable pillar in both higher Education and the struggle against injustice in our country At the time Cheney admitted its first student It was actually against the law in parts of the country to teach black children to read and write From that time to this Education has been the spark to light the torch of hope and opportunity for black Americans That's why men like Frederick Douglass Booker T. Washington Dr. Martin Luther King jr. Understood and stressed the importance of education As Frederick Douglass once said a little learning indeed may be a dangerous thing But the want of learning is a calamity to any people Today your schools award the some 40% of all degrees that are earned by black students in the United States 85% of black physicians 60% of black pharmacists 40% of black attorneys 50% of black engineers and 75% of black military officers and 80% of black judges are graduates of America's 101 historically black colleges and universities You know mentioning military officers Martin Luther King used to remind us that black Americans are among our greatest patriots And I take special pride in mentioning this because I remember during the war. I Narrated a film about a group of such patriots Pilots being trained at Tuskegee Including one who would go on to become a great general and a national hero Chappy James And even though I was only a member of the horse cavalry I can't tell you how proud I am that They made me an honorary member of the Tuskegee Airmen I don't know whether that was because even as a horse cavalryman come World War two I found myself flying a desk for the Air Force But I'm proud to that the tradition of patriotism I saw when I was working on that film is being carried out of the strong ROTC programs on many of your campuses When we first came to Washington our Administration recognized the vital role that historically black colleges and universities Continue to play in American life That's why five years ago this week. I signed executive order 12 3 2 0 Since then federal funding to your institutions has increased from 545 million in 1981 to 629 million in 1985 In the past five years We've helped rescue from financial collapse several prestigious historical black schools Including Fisk University and Mahari Medical College We also helped to improve the administrative infrastructure of many historically black colleges and that's helped to make them more of Of what they have and of course our work continues And in a goal that I believe is particularly important. We've encouraged greater private participation in your colleges and Universities it's part of our whole approach really But too long well-meaning government programs had lured too many Americans into the deep dark caverns of dependency We want to help free them to climb out and walk in the sunlight of pride and independence So we're working to create enterprise zones and establish a youth employment opportunity wage We established the job training partnership act We cut taxes for all Americans and with tax reform perhaps the greatest anti-poverty program in history We'll take six million lower-income Americans off the rolls entirely We've also said that helping ensure the health and independence of your schools Was is and will be one of the most important steps we can take in making ours truly an opportunity Society for all Americans So that's why we're here today to recognize some of the partnerships between business and historically black colleges in the fields of science and technology and I understand that in the past two days You've talked about how to encourage more of those partnerships America today is pioneering a new industrial revolution a revolution that's creating new jobs new technologies new businesses and new opportunities and Changing the way we think and work a revolution in which America is the world leader a Revolution so profound that some believe that it's only compatible with free societies and that once it pierces the walls of the communist world Those walls may begin to crumble and fall Many graduates of your schools Have helped lead our nation in this revolution For example an American hero dr. Ronald McNair who was a graduate of North Carolina A&T State University and a member of the Challenger shuttle crew We need more young men and women of genius and courage like dr. McNair If we're to continue to lead this revolution This week I'm told you've discussed such imaginative proposals as tapping the vast array of talent and experience in America's community of retired scientists technologists and engineers with the help of corporate research departments private foundations and Professional societies you will recruit retirees to serve as visiting faculty members Scholars or researchers You've also discussed a new partnership for science with business Companies would adopt a department or an entire school and make a long-term commitment to its development Foundations would join with the corporate community Already our award winners today have blazed the trail Partnerships such as those of Atlanta University those between the Texas Experiment Station and Prairie View A&M University and Those between Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and Jackson State University have shown the way to the future Now I've talked about the special problems and opportunities that America's Historically black colleges and universities face Let me turn for a moment if I can to something that faces us all Not as blacks or whites and not just as educators workers or employers But as Americans I'm talking of course about the threat of drugs Now last Sunday, maybe you caught us Nancy and I talked to the nation about drugs We shared our thoughts not just as president and first lady, but as parents and grandparents It's not often that a fellow guest to quote his wife, but I know when I've been upstaged Besides Nancy said it best when she said that Today there is a drug and alcohol abuse epidemic in this country and no one is safe from it Not you not me and certainly not our children because this epidemic has their name written on it Nearly two-thirds of high school seniors use an illegal drug at least once before graduating 40% of high school seniors have used drugs in addition to marijuana At least 17% of the class of 1985 tried cocaine The highest level ever and it's going up in all groups urban and rule college-bounded not male and female Everyone and it doesn't stop with high school Almost one in every five college students reports great pressure to use drugs Some of the most eloquent voices warning against the drug plague are in this room President Willie Robinson of Florida Memorial College put it this way recently He said there is a problem that is tearing the soul out of our young people And Tuskegee President Benjamin Payton said the use of drugs should be banned not only on campus But in homes in the community and in the country Well, that's what Nancy and I are calling on all Americans to do I'd like to interject something this morning I turned on the set real quick because I knew she'd been taped and was appearing in an interview on the air and She was asked a question about where you know how far down does this begin and I had forgotten this answer that she had learned on one of her trips the various treatment centers The lad eight years of age not only a user but a pusher and He carried one of those beeper things sitting in class If he got the signal on the beeper he excused himself and went out because the beeper meant he had a customer outside waiting to buy That's how early and that's why as she said their names Our children's names are the ones that are written on it well the Nancy and I are calling as I say on all Americans to do It won't be the campaign against drugs one with more police. Although that'll help Won't be one just with tighter control on our borders. Although that will help and it won't be one just in schools Although that's important It won't be one just in the fraternities or sororities or dormitories and that's important Won't be one just in our workplaces no matter how important they are It won't be one just in our homes. Although they're very important, too It won't be one just in any of those places. It has to be one in all of those places And I believe it will be now It's a crusade. We must fight on every front from the borders of our magnificent country and beyond to the inner soul That God gave us where we must each find the courage for the battle in a field in France He's buried a young man an American soldier who died in the first world war He was killed trying to carry a message between battalions under heavy fire After his death and the fly leaf of the diary that was found on his body. He had written these words America must win this war Therefore I will work. I will save I will sacrifice. I will endure. I will fight cheerfully And do my utmost as if the issue of the whole struggle depended on me alone Well, this is how America will win the crusade against drugs the way we've met every other great challenge The way we've overcome every other great obstacle Not by making excuses, but by each of us doing our part by pulling together Nancy and I are saying it's time for all of us to join together to kick drugs and drug dealers out of our schools Off our campuses out of our homes out of our communities and out of our country You college and university presidents are leading in so many areas of education. I ask you to lead in this way, too Now I think we have a few awards to hand out Thank you very much. Mr. President. It's now my pleasure to present to you the Historically black colleges and universities science and technology alliance models awardees The following people step forward as I call your name and may I ask you to come from this direction? First awardee Jackson State University recipient. Dr. James Hefner president Lawrence Berkeley laboratory. Mr. Walter Hart saw associate director Prairie view A&M University. Dr. Percy Pierre president Texas A&M University. Mr. John E. Flippsy deputy director Lana University dr. Luther Williams president American telephone and telegraph foundation. Mr. Robert Allen president and chief operating officer digital equipment corporation dr. Miriam Gonzalez and dr. Serge Paul Emile the general motors corporation dr. Priscilla Douglas general director Hewlett Packard Palo Alto, California. Dr. Winford Sanders marketing application manager international business machines mr. Charles Bowen director Rockwell international corporation mr. Robert Anderson chief executive office Mr. President addition the following four companies are receiving awards for their contributions to this conference Will their representatives please step forward from our co mr. Fred Nelson the Mott Foundation mr. Michael Radick and Raytheon and Standard Oil of Ohio dr. Walter Lee and mr. Charles Taylor. Thank you very much, mr. President