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.
Delaware State University, the historically Black educational institution in Dover, received a two-year $145,194 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The funds will be used to establish an archival fellowship program. Two nine-month archival fellows as well as two summer interns will be hired using grant funds.
Historically Black Fayetteville State University in North Carolina, received a three-year, $349,697 grant from the National Science Foundation. The grant will fund the development of an innovative career development program for undergraduate students in STEM disciplines. The grant program is under the direction of Lawrence Flowers, an assistant professor of microbiology at the university and is based on Dr. Flowers’ book Science Careers: Personal Accounts From the Experts (Scarecrow Press, 2003). Dr. Flowers is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University. He holds a master’s degree from the University of Iowa and a Ph.D. from the University of Florida.
Winston-Salem State University, the historically Black educational institution in North Carolina, received a $143,000 grant from the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust to support its Students Taking Action and Reaching Success (STARS) program. The funds will allow the university to expand the program to middle schools in two additional counties. The program teaches life skills and promotes self-esteem.
Historically Black Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina, received a $298,995 grant from the National Science Foundation to support undergraduate student research projects on soil contamination. The funds are being used to train students in research methods and to support a project that is examining soil contamination at a Coast Guard base near the Elizabeth City State University campus.
Tests have shown that significant amounts of residual fuel from an old storage depot for Coast Guard aircraft are contained in the soil which may be contaminating a local river. The students are determining the extent of the contamination in order to provide data for the environmental cleanup effort.
Alabama A&M University, the historically Black educational institution in Huntsville, has received a $620,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation that will be used to renovate the university’s auto shop, install an automotive vehicle washing facility, and to develop an alternative biodiesel fuel production facility. The grant program is under the direction of Marshall Chimwedzi, director of the Alabama A&M University Department of Transportation.
The School of Veterinary Medicine at historically Black Tuskegee University in Alabama received a $2.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to support the school’s mission of training African Americans and other minority students in the field of veterinary medicine. According to the last data from the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges, African Americans are only 2.6 percent of the students currently enrolled in veterinary medical programs in the United States.
