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.
Winston-Salem State University, the historically Black educational institution in North Carolina, has received funding to continue participating in the largest-ever study of sports-related concussions. The university is among 30 institutions participating in the study, which recently received $22.5 million in new funding from the U.S. Department of Defense and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Winston-Salem State is the only historically Black college or university chosen to participate in the study. The newest phase of the project will include comprehensive testing of 39,000 student-athletes when they leave college and four years after their collegiate careers have ended.
Historically Black Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis has received a $200,000 Child Care Access Means Parents in School grant from the Department of Education. The funds will support 20 student parents who are unable to afford the cost of child care at the university’s William L. Clay Early Childhood Center. The students will receive a 75 percent reduction in child care tuition, giving them a cost as low as $15 per week. It is hoped that he grant will increase the probability of these student parents moving forward in their education by lessening their financial burden and providing them with a quality child care facility on campus.
Tuskegee University, the historically Black educational institution in Alabama, has received a $250,000 gift from Encompass Health to fund scholarships for deserving nursing and occupational therapy students in Tuskegee’s School of Nursing and Allied Health. The gift is the company’s first partnership with a historically Black college or university. A portion of the gift will benefit the university’s endowment, ensuring these scholarships are awarded into perpetuity.
Historically Black Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has received a $2.15 million donation from Advanced Biomedics, Illera Health to grow and cultivate medical marijuana through the Southern University Agricultural Research Extension Center. Currently, Southern University is the only HBCU in the nation to grow and cultivate medical marijuana.
