President Barack Obama will attend a student forum at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro on Oct. 11, with topics to include his nationwide initiative aimed at filling opportunity voids for minority youths and the role of black colleges, the White House said Tuesday.
It could not immediately be learned whether Obama’s visit to North Carolina also will be coupled with an appearance with Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, for whom the president is expected to actively campaign over the coming weeks.
North Carolina is considered a crucial swing state in the general election next month, and both Clinton and her Republican rival, Donald Trump, are expected to make multiple visits to the state to try to boost voter turnout.
A Clinton campaign spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The event at North Carolina A&T, a black college, will be hosted by the cable sports network ESPN. The discussion will revolve mostly around the My Brother’s Keeper initiative that Obama announced in 2014 to keep minority youths on track toward obtaining a quality education and successful careers.
Greensboro, Charlotte and Winston-Salem are among nearly 250 communities that accepted a challenge to join the program.
The program has drawn $600 million in private sector and philanthropic grant funding.
Among its aims:
–Provide trained mentors for one million students across the country over the next three to five years.
–Encourage innovative approaches to providing minority youths with thousands of summer or year-round jobs.
–Discourage out-of-school suspensions for minority kids, and 40 communities already have committed to reforming their disciplinary practice.
–Offer “Second Chance” Pell grants in a pilot program enabling imprisoned Americans to finance post-secondary education or career training that might lead to employment and self-sufficiency.
Greg Gordon: 202-383-6152, @greggordon2