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.
The University of Virginia received a five-year, $350,000 grant from the William T. Grant Foundation to study if diverse peer groups benefit adolescents in middle schools. The research will be under the direction of Joanna Lee Williams, an assistant professor of educational psychology. Dr. Williams is a graduate of Brown University. She holds a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. from Temple University in Philadelphia.
The University of California, Santa Cruz received a $1 million donation from alumna Julie Packard, the executive director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The funds are earmarked for academic support programs for underrepresented minority students in STEM fields.
The University of Missouri-Kansas City received a $3.2 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health for a study on whether an HIV awareness program conducted at African American churches is an effective approach to reduce HIV/AIDS in the Black community. The “Taking It to the Pews” program will involve 30 churches in the Kansas City area and 12 churches in Montgomery, Alabama. The program is under the director of Jannette Berkley-Patton, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Delgado Community College in New Orleans, Louisiana, received a grant from the Higher One Organization to conduct a Financial Literacy Boot Camp to educate the predominantly Black local community to make sound financial decisions. The program is under the director of Derek Bardell, an adjunct professor of business administration at the college. Professor Bardell is a graduate of Dillard University in New Orleans and holds two master’s degrees from Tulane University, also in New Orleans.
