Here is this week’s news of grants or gifts to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.
Arizona State University received a $245,000 grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to increase the number of women and students from underrepresented groups who participate in the university’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation program.
Morgan State University, the historically Black educational institution in Baltimore received a $1,402,200 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to establish the Urban Mobility and Equity Center on campus. The University of Maryland, College Park and Virginia Tech will collaborate with Morgan State University on the project.
South Louisiana Community College in Lafayette received a five-year, $2.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The funding is part of the Predominantly Black Institutions Formula Grants program. African Americans make up 38 percent of the 7,000-member student body, according to the most current U.S. Department of Education figures. The funds will be used for programs to increase enrollment, retention, and graduation rates of Black students at the community college. The grant program is under the directions of Krystal Martin, director of student success at the college. Dr. Martin holds bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from Jackson State University in Mississippi.
Historically Black Clark Atlanta University in Georgia received a three-year, $432,335 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration. The funds will support the Clark Russell Entrepreneurship and Technology Ecosystem (CREATE) program that will support local entrepreneurs in food systems technology.
The University of Maryland School of Medicine received a total of $138 million over five years from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for programs to fight HIV/AIDS in Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, and Nigeria. The programs will be under the direction of Deus Bazira Mubangizi, an assistant professor of medicine and the director of the newly formed Center for International Health, Education & Biosecurity within the medical school’s Institute of Human Virology.