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 Pennsylvania received a five-year, $3.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute for a study to develop optional prevention and therapeutic strategies for women with HIV/AIDS and the human papillomavirus in the African nation of Botswana. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania will collaborate with scholars at the University of Botswana on the project.
The University of Alabama Birmingham received a three-year, $350,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to support a text-messaging intervention program for a low-income, low-literate group of older African Americans with HIV. The grant is under the direction of Carrie Ann Gakumo, an assistant professor in the university’s School of Nursing.
Louisiana State University received a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for program to promote enrollment and provide academic support for African American students.
Hampton University, the historically Black educational institution in Virginia, received a $986,845 grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration and the National Institutes of Health for programs to increase the number of mental health counselors serving underrepresented groups. The program is under the direction of Spencer Baker, associate professor in the department of counseling at Hampton.
The University of Houston received a grant from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for programs to reduce HIV/AIDS among minority youth. Minorities are make up 82 percent of new HIV cases in the Houston area.
Historically Black Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina received a five-year, $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to enhance the university’s online master’s degree program in rehabilitation counseling to train individuals to help deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals get jobs.
Low-income students enrolled in STEM degree fields at University of Wisconsin System institutions will benefit from a $1,875,000 grant from the Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation for scholarships and financial aid.
Historically Black Delaware State University received a $500,000 grant the Economic Development Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce to create a geographic information system covering the U.S. Virgin Islands. The grant program is under the direction of Michael H. Casson Jr., an associate professor of economics and director of the university’s Center for Economic Development and International Trade.
California State University, Northridge received a five-year, $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education for programs to increase the number of underrepresented minorities in graduate programs in health-related fields.
Historically Black Virginia State University received a $485,616 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to establish a next-generation DNA sequencing system to support the university’s research in genomics.
Virginia Union University, the historically Black educational institution in Richmond, received a $2.1 million gift from an anonymous donor. The gift will be used to retire the debt on the university’s new Living and Learning Center. (See photo below.) The donor requested that the new facility be named for the university’s president, Claude G. Perkins. The gift is the largest ever received by the university from a single, living donor.
