Detroit Business School To Reopen This Year As An HBCU

DETROIT (CBS Detroit/AP) — A business school in Detroit will be reopened as Michigan's first and only historically Black college or university.

House bills 5447 and 5448 were signed last week by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and will facilitate the reopening of the Lewis College of Business as the Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design.

"I am proud to play a part in helping reopen the Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design in Detroit," Whitmer said in a statement. "I am committed to expanding educational opportunities for Michiganders across our state to put Michigan first."

The Lewis College of Business operated in Detroit from 1939 until 2013 and originally received its Historically Black College and University designation in 1987. The Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design has requested HBCU recognition from the state. It is expected to open in 2022 on the campus of the College for Creative Studies in Detroit.

"This will give countless students a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to follow in their parents' and grandparents' footsteps by attending an HBCU right here in the city of Detroit," said Katrenia L. Camp, president of the Detroit Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. "This is our opportunity to build pathways of opportunity for people to learn and live at their fullest potential."

The House bills were sponsored by Rep. Joe Tate (D-Detroit) and Rep. Pamela Hornberger (R-Chesterfield Township).

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