A group of 12 historically black colleges and universities has launched a campaign to raise $12 million to help rebuild the Université d’Etat d’Haïti (State University of Haiti), which was severely damaged by an earthquake in January 2010. The money will be used to construct a classroom building where students can participate in distance education programs taught by faculty at the HBCUs. Some of the money will be used to hire faculty to replace professors who were killed in the earthquake and the consortium hopes to provide scholarships to about 1,000 Haitian students.
The fundraising effort is being coordinated by Frederick Humphries, former president and now regent professor at Florida A&M University. In addition to Florida A&M, the participating HBCUs are South Carolina State University, Morgan State University, Howard University, Miles College, and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Additional members of the consortium are Central State University (Ohio), Virginia State University, North Carolina A&T State University, Fort Valley State University (Georgia), Tennessee State University, and Jackson State University (Mississippi).
