Howard President to Head HBCU Capital Financing Board
WASHINGTON
U.S. Secretary of Education Dr. Roderick Paige last month announced the appointment of H. Patrick Swygert, president of Howard University, as chairman of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Capital Financing Board. His term runs through September 2004.
“Patrick Swygert’s distinguished career in law and as president of two universities, one a premiere HBCU, make him distinctly qualified to head the HBCU capital financing board,” Paige says. “I welcome his advice and counsel on building projects to strengthen and renew the nation’s HBCU campuses and academic facilities.”
The HBCU capital financing program provides financial insurance through a designated bonding authority to guarantee academic construction loans to qualified HBCUs. The nine-member board advises the secretary on the capital needs of HBCUs and how to best meet those needs through the capital financing program. In the fiscal year 2002, the program issued $82 million in bonds to HBCUs for capital projects related to construction, research and housing.
Swygert became the 15th president of Howard in 1995, the fifth African American to serve as the university’s chief executive officer. Under his leadership, Howard has undergone major growth and development, including the creation of the Louis Stokes Health Sciences Library, the School of Law Library, and the university’s iLab, a technology learning center comprising more than 200 computer workstations, distance learning classrooms and a Webcasting facility. Swygert also was instrumental in forming a unique partnership between Howard University and Fannie Mae to revitalize the LeDroit Park neighborhood around the campus.
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