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.
The College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the historically Black University of the District of Columbia has received a $989,475 grant from the National Science Foundation S-STEM Program. The funding will provide 85 full tuition scholarships over a five-year period to qualified underrepresented or low-income students in biology, chemistry, and engineering. The scholarship recipients will receive holistic mentoring, concentrated learning activities, and intensive research experiences.
Historically Black Simmons College of Kentucky received a $4 million gift from Simmons board chairman Barney Barrett and his wife at the college’s inaugural Transform Louisville Education Breakfast. Most of the gift will be used for renovating and modernizing buildings on Simmons’ campus and the $1 million will be used to establish an endowment fund that can help provide income for future needs. This donation puts the college closer to its goal of raising $20 million by the end of 2020.
Historically Black Morgan State University in Baltimore has received a $1.6 million Aerospace Workforce and Leadership Development Grant from the nonprofit Base 11. The funds will go towards a state-of-the-art rocketry lab and launch a student rocketry team. Additionally, the university will recruit and hire an aerospace faculty leader to create a world-class liquid fuel rocketry program.
The Alfred Street Baptist Church has donated $100,000 to Howard University in Washington, D.C., to pay off the debt of some university students. The university picked 34 full-time students with a grade point averages of 2.0 or higher who demonstrated significant financial needs to receive the donated funds.
The Frank W. Hale Jr. Black Cultural Center and Todd Anthony Bell National Resource Center on the African American Male at Ohio State University have received a $75,000 gift from philanthropist William F. Pickard. The funds will be used to create the Dr. William F. Pickard Scholars Program, which will develop student leaders with an interest in social, educational, political, communal, and economic issues affecting African American communities. The program will offer short courses, an independent study project, and other professional development opportunities.
