Here is this week’s news of grants to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.
Historically Black Grambling State University in Louisiana received a $100,962 grant from the Louisiana Board of Regents to fund its Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) initiative. The program, housed in the university’s College of Education, sponsors a summer camp aimed at increasing students’ interest in enrolling in college, preparing them for the college application process, and piquing interest in careers in STEM fields.
The grant program is under the direction of Grambling professors Loretta Walton Jaggers and Nanthalia McJamerson. Loretta Walton Jaggers is a professor of education at Grambling. She is a Grambling graduate and earned a master’s degree at the State University of New York at Buffalo. She holds an educational doctorate from the University of Houston.
Dr. McJamerson is also a professor of education at Grambling. She received a bachelor’s degree in business education at Grambling and a master’s degree in education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Professor McJamerson holds a Ph. D. in educational psychology from Washington University in St. Louis.
Florida Memorial University, the historically Black educational institution in Miami Gardens, received a $200,000 grant from the Miami Bayside Foundation for an endowed scholarship program for minority students from the city of Miami. The foundation has a stated goal of increasing economic development and educational opportunity in the city.
Historically Black Meharry Medical College in Nashville received a $3 million grant from the Cal Turner Family Foundation to build a campus center. The 80,000-square-foot facility will house classrooms, study space, event facilities. auditoria, a food court, and a visitor’s center.
Cal Turner, the former CEO of Dollar General stores, is a Nashville philanthropist and civic leader.
