The news that a high-achieving white guy is Morehouse's valedictorian this year was met with a variety of responses ranging from "so what?" to "you go, boy!" to "why the hell couldn't a black guy with a 4.0 have been the valedictorian?" Although it is a first for a white student to deliver the valedictory address at Morehouse, there's nothing new about white students at HBCUs. And the trend is growing.

Almost exactly a year ago, I wrote about how HBCUs are becoming more attractive to non-black students because of the availability of scholarships and the low cost — most HBCU's cost an average of $10,000 less than other colleges and universities. Some schools, like Alcorn State, Jackson State and Mississippi Valley State in Mississippi, were forced to desegregate in order to receive much-needed aid from the state.

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RACIAL FIRSTS On Saturday, Joshua Packwood will deliver the valedictory address at Morehouse College in Atlanta. He's from Kansas City, Missouri, he had a perfect 4.0 GPA, and he's headed to Goldman Sachs in NYC after graduation. Oh, and he's white. He will be the first white student to deliver Morehouse's valedictory address. He said he chose Morehouse because of the attention lavished on him by a recruiter and that the school granted him a "perspective" he wouldn't have gotten at an Ivy League. Of his experience, he said, "I cannot tell you what a black man is. I really learned to look much deeper. It takes a lot of effort to know people." [WLTX]

A Los Angeles woman named Verna Dauterive made history last week when she donated $25 million to her alma mater, the University of Southern California, in the name of her late husband. This is newsworthy not only because of the large sum but because this is the largest gift to an American university from an African American alumnus. Dauterive and her husband met at the school after World War II.

As news spreads of this generous gift from a black woman to a well-known school, it's hard not to think of the plight of HBCUs, which are struggling to maintain quality despite dwindling funds. Presidents of these institutions are lobbying Congress for money, and some of them are losing accreditation and dealing with falling application rates. This is certainly not to say that Dauterive should have passed over her alma mater in favor of a black school — if I were to give to a school, it would probably be somewhere I or someone in my family had obtained a degree — but it does bring up the question: who is looking out for HBCUs? Where are the millions of dollars from alumni?

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Leaders from HBCUs from around the country descended on Washington yesterday to plead the case for their schools, which are floundering financially. School presidents told members of the House Education and Labor Committee that cutbacks in state and federal spending and competition from mainstream universities are puttng the schools in a bind. In other words, they need more money. Kentucky State University president Mary Sias told the panel, "KSU and other HBCUs take the terror of poverty, hunger, fear and hopelessness and turn it into hope. With a little more money and capital we can do even more." While HBCUs only make up 4 percent of colleges and universities, they graduate 40 percent of the country's black students.

• The eight-volume African American National Biography compilation, edited by Harvard's Henry Louis Gates and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham will bring a lot of would-be-famous black names out of obscurity. [WP]

• Mitt Romney shows he can relate to the black youth. That "Who Let The Dogs Out" song is so happenin' right now. [FOX]

• Foxy Brown gets no love from the judge. [6ABC]

• Sean Hannity fulfills expectations. [NH]

• The case for HBCUs.

• Remember James Watson, the Nobel prize-winning scientist who believes black people are genetically less intelligent than whites? Well, 16 percent of his genes likely came from a black ancestor. [Ind]

• Ah, microaggression. It actually seems to be going out of style these days. [WS]

• Nooses are less microaggression, more passive aggression. [KNBC]

• The city of Chicago is out $20 million. Taxpayers can blame the cops who thought it was a good idea to torture four black suspects into a confession. [UPI]

• Fisk University is in major trouble, and local churches are stepping in to help. [WKRN]

• Kwanzaa begins at the end of the month. If you celebrate it, chime in below, because I don't know many that do. [OKW]

• There's a good reason the GOP is so comfortable with torture. [AS]

• And the debate about/against HBCUs continues. [WSJ]

• Good to know: NY blacks are just as dismal and hopeless as the rest of black Americans. [NYS]

• The world, I mean, the Chicago Police Department, is still struggling with racial issues. [CST]

As if students of Delaware State University, an HBCU, didn't go through enough when three of their classmates were shot execution-style last month in Newark, NJ, their school is now under lockdown after a gunman shot two students near the campus sports arena.

"Until the suspect is apprehended, students, faculty and staff are being directed to remain in their buildings until further notice," a school statement said.

The female student was shot twice; the male was shot once, said spokesman Carlos Holmes. They were taken to Bayhealth Medical Center in Dover, Delaware's capital.

A hearty welcome back for those Del State students, isn't it?

[CNN]

Why play an NFL or NCAA video game when you can have the ultimate gaming experience — and by ultimate, I mean you can play football and be a drum major in the same game.

"This is the most brutally fun and amazingly accurate football experience out there. Set in the unique and colorful world of Black College Football, BCFx puts you in the spotlight. Step into the cleats of a player: Make hard hits and split decisions, as you guide your team through the season. Feel the passion of the fans and the music from the band coarse through your veins as you get closer, yard-by-yard, to the Championship game. Step into the boots of a drum major: Halftime offers no respite as you suit up, grip your baton and lead your band of musical maestros through intricate formations as the crowd roars in amazement. It's the Battle of the Bands: Win this and you just might give your team what it needs to prevail in the second half."

Does Nick Cannon provide any of the voices?

[NOISB]

$400 million donations to schools like Columbia University perpetuate privilege instead of spreading the wealth, says the president of HBCU Philander Smith College. I think that's the point. [IHE]

Black men and women still prefer lighter-skinned mates, according to a recent study. We needed a study to tell us that? [BCW]

Jim Jones associate Stack Bundles was shot dead in Queens yesterday morning. [BH]

Widely considered the father of African cinema, Senegalese filmmaker and writer Ousmane Sembene died at his home in Dakar at 84. [IHT]

Youthbuild: at least one organization to help young people that actually works. [CO]

White students looking for a less expensive college education and who don't mind being in the racial minority for a change are increasingly applying to historically black colleges and universities. Some public HBCUs have been required by law to diversify their student populations, but at schools like Morehouse, white students are not heavily recruited and make a "conscious decision" to attend. In general, black schools are probably more attractive to some non-blacks because they're cheaper and offer more scholarships than other universities.

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White Chocolate City? Census results show that the percentage of whites in DC is growing as blacks flee to less-expensive suburbs. [WDBJ7]

In a growing theme, three times more black people than white people permanently left Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. Houston says, thanks a lot. [Advocate]

The minority boom has major political implications for the 2008 elections. [CO]

HBCUs are catching onto the fact that the US News & World Report college ranking system are just plain unfair. [IHEd]

People have warned Michael Jackson warn him not to fight the public auction of his belongings, because it would be embarrassing for him. Don't they know by now the home school tutors never taught MJ what that word means? [WENN]