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.
A seven-year, $24.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education will help fund the Gear Up Alabama project designed to raise the high school graduation rate and the college participation rate in Alabama’s Black Belt counties. The University of Alabama Birmingham is the lead institution in the grant project that also includes historically Black Alabama State University, the University of Alabama, Auburn University, and the University of Montevallo.
Tuskegee University received a $275,000 grant from the National Cancer Institute and a $375,000 grant from the Department of Defense to support research to determine why some types of cancer are more aggressive in African American patients. The research is under the direction of Clayton Yates, a professor of biology at the university. Dr. Yates holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Tuskegee University. He earned a Ph.D. in pathology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Delaware State University, the historically Black educational institution in Delaware, received a $249,291 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy for research on capturing carbon dioxide emissions.
Historically Black Howard University in Washington, D.C., received a five-year, $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop the university’s Advancing Diversity in Aging Research program. The goal is increase the number of underrepresented minority students who are engaging in aging research. Kebreten Manaye, professor and chair of the department of physiology at the Howard University College of Medicine is co-leader of the grant program.
Florida A&M University, the historically Black educational institution in Tallahassee, received a three-year, $864,041 grant from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to develop a curriculum for first-year students to educate them on substance abuse issues. The program is under the direction of Yolanda Bogan, director of counseling services at the university.
Alabama A&M University received a five-year, $1,750,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for programs to increase the number of underrepresented minority students in STEM education and research. The principal investigator on the grant project is Juarine Stewart, associate provost for undergraduate studies at the university.
Historically Black Norfolk State University in Virginia received $100,000 from the City of Norfolk. The money will be used to provide scholarships so that students from the city can attend Norfolk State.
