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.
Vassar College, the highly rated liberal arts educational institution in Poughkeepsie, New York, received an $800,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support its program “Engaged Pluralism: Belonging and Thriving at Vassar College.” The program will focus on equity and student success and programs that foster a sense of belonging. The grant is under the direction of Candice M. Lowe-Swift, an associate professor of anthropology at Vassar College.
Historically Black Clark Atlanta University in cooperation with the University of Texas at El Paso has been awarded a $1.5 million grant from U.S. Department of Defense for prostate cancer research. The research will include clinical trials of new drugs designed to fight prostate cancer.
North Carolina Central University, the historically Black educational institution in Durham, received a $75,000 donation from alumnus Darrell T. Allison to endow two scholarships for undergraduate students from Cabarrus County, North Carolina. The scholarships will be awarded to first-year students with a high school grade point average of 3.2 or above who have demonstrated financial need.
Five historically Black universities – Alcorn State University, the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, Southern University, Claflin University, and Tuskegee University – are participating in a three-year, $1.5 million grant program from the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association. The Black Male Teacher Training Initiative will provide training and mentoring for Black males in 11th grade through the first-year of college who want to become teachers.
Historically Black Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina received a three-year, $269,000 grant from the United Way of Forsyth County for programs to improve the health of underserved residents of East Winston. The Rams Employment and Community Health Equity (REACHE) project will focus on preventing falls among the elderly, providing physical therapy for people with neurological conditions, supporting aging in place programs, and providing job training for youth with disabilities.
