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.
Historically Black Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, received a $300,000 grant from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina to support student development and retention programs. The grant will help fund the university’s Student Retention Gap Fund which enhances retention and graduation rates by providing support to students whose academic progress is interrupted by financial barriers. The grant also kicks off the funding for Shaw’s planned Summer Academy Institute, which is designed to alleviate students’ personal and academic transition from high school to the university.
Auburn University in Alabama received a five-year, $764,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to study racial differences in sodium and blood pressure regulation. The research, under the direction of Austin Robinson, an assistant professor of kinesiology, will examine why African Americans, in particular, are more likely to have diminished cardiovascular function after eating high amounts of dietary sodium. Dr. Robinson joined the faculty at Auburn University in 2019. He is a graduate of the University of Indianapolis and holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in rehabilitation sciences from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Elizabeth City State University, a historically Black educational institution in North Carolina, received a $250,000 grant from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. The grant will help fund the university’s Successful Retention Collaborative Task Force. The task force will issue mini-grants to allow students in need to meet their financial obligations to the university
