Activism

HNU Says (Secret) Deadline Has Passed to File Proposals to Save Campus

Despite opposition of the trustees, many community leaders and city officials are moving forward for an educational future for the campus. In a statement released this week, Councilmember-at-Large Rebecca Kaplan reiterated city leaders’ commitment to maintaining the HNU campus, including as a Historically Black College or University (HBCU): “The Holy Names University site can, and should, have an educational future to provide jobs, opportunity, train teachers and others for vital community needs, and preserve the intended purpose of the land, and the funding they have received.

Published

2 years ago

April 30, 2023

Ken Epstein

Holy Names University Campus. File photo.

By Ken Epstein

The Board of Trustees of Holy Names University (HNU), which has shown little interest in working with educational institutions or city leaders to maintain the campus as a site for higher education, is now telling potential partners that a previously unmentioned deadline for submitting proposals has already passed, as of last Friday.

The trustees had hired a real estate firm to sell the nearly 60-acre property in the Oakland Hills for top dollar to a developer of high-end housing.

But the City of Oakland staff recently told HNU that such a development would violate the city’s general zoning regulations and is not permitted.

Despite opposition of the trustees, many community leaders and city officials are moving forward for an educational future for the campus.

In a statement released this week, Councilmember-at-Large Rebecca Kaplan reiterated city leaders’ commitment to maintaining the HNU campus, including as a Historically Black College or University (HBCU):

“The Holy Names University site can, and should, have an educational future to provide jobs, opportunity, train teachers and others for vital community needs, and preserve the intended purpose of the land, and the funding they have received.

“I am honored to join together with community members, including alumni, students, and faculty of HNU, and many neighbors and others who are worried about the loss of vital educational programs. I am pleased that we have been able to identify the removal of all of the barriers to continued educational use, including verifying that neither the Attorney General, nor the lender, are requiring HNU to select a for-profit buyer, and there are educational users interested in acquiring the property,” she said.

“In addition, given the Oakland general plan (zoning) designation of the site, and the intentions of the donors to Holy Names, it is appropriate to pursue an educational future for the site,” Kaplan said.

In an interview, Oakland Post publisher Paul Cobb said, “I have spoken to prospective developers and buyers of the Holy Names Campus. I have noticed that some white developers have been given true financial information while some Black applicants have not.”

“Since HNU leaders have misrepresented the role and advice of the California Attorney General Bonta’s office with the disposition of the property and its potential future, I will ask Bonta, the Alameda County District Attorney, and the Oakland City Attorney to jointly investigate the inaccurate marketing of this vital educational institution,” he said.

“Since HNU graduates many of our teachers and health professionals, we must make sure that there is full transparency,” he continued.

“I also recently informed Cardinal Turkson from the Vatican that we plan to save HNU and add a Black College to help serve the area’s needs.”

Ken Epstein

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Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

Published

5 days ago

June 7, 2025

Oakland Post

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Oakland Post

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Activism

Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

1 week ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.