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.
Prairie View A&M University, the historically Black educational institution in Texas, received a three-year $881,796 grant from the State of Texas for programs to aid victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. The Victims Assistance College Initiative Grant will provide funds for training and education programs and to hire staff at the university’s Women’s Center who will counsel victims. The grant program is under the direction of Bernadine Duncan, director of student counseling services.
Historically Black North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro received a $2 million grant from the University of North Carolina System to conduct research on ways to convert animal and wood waste into carbon-neutral fuel. The research seeks to develop efficient methods using solar energy to convert biogas from animal and food waste to gasoline.
Jackson State University, the historically Black educational institution in Mississippi, received a five-year, $1.25 million grant from the U.S. Department of education to train teachers of visually impaired students in the Deep South. Under the grant program, the university will debut a new master’s degree program in special education with a concentration in visual impairments. The program is under the direction of Glenda Winfield, an assistant professor of special education. Dr. Winfield holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Jackson State University and a doctorate in special education from the University of Southern Mississippi.
Historically Black Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida, received a $130,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to enhance the work of the University Archives. Funds will provide for the hiring of a university archivist and will establish a history internship project for two student interns to process collections. Whitney Barrett, a graduate of Bethune-Cookman University who holds a master’s degree from Florida State University, has been chosen to serve as university archivist.
North Carolina Central University, the historically Black educational institution in Durham, received a $16.3 million grant from the National Institutes of health to study racial health disparities. It is the largest grant ever received by the university’s Biomedical Biotechnology Research Institute. The institute will use the grant money for research on breast cancer disparities, kidney disease among African American men, and diet-induced obesity.
Morehouse College, a highly rated liberal arts educational institution for Black men in Atlanta, received a $110,00 donation from alumnus Isom B. Lowman to establish a scholarship fund for students interested in entrepreneurship. Lowman operates a chain of Athlete’s Foot franchises.
