San Francisco moves to launch HBCU satellite campus

Details: Black 2 San Francisco, an initiative led by the city's Human Rights Commission, will begin hosting HBCU programming this summer.

• The University of San Francisco will offer student housing accommodations, while San Francisco State University will provide classroom space.
• The University of California at San Francisco will also collaborate with HBCUs to expand mental health mentoring, training and internships for students in the program.
• Strengthening ties with these institutions will help empower the city's next generation of leaders while utilizing vacancies in the Downtown area to incorporate academic campuses, offices, and housing, Mayor London Breed said in remarks Friday.

Of note: The proposal for a physical satellite campus in San Francisco was one of the 150-plus formal recommendations issued by the city's reparations committee last year.

• The committee called on the city to create an incentive package and facilitate relationships with the technology sector to strengthen the HBCU pipeline into the local tech industry.

• Community members have said the proposal could also help draw more Black residents to the city, which has seen its Black population consistently decline in every census count since 1970.

The big picture: HBCUs, which have seen a surge in enrollment in recent years, are historically underfunded.

• With the nation caught up in fierce debates around the role of race in school curricula, many HBCU leaders have warned that the teaching of Black history risks erasure.
• HBCU campuses are also increasingly facing bomb threats, especially during Black History Month.