The HBCU Undergraduate Success Research Center is an initiative designed to increase educational and employment opportunities for minorities interested in STEM subjects.
The center, known as “STEM-US,” will be headquartered at Morehouse College in Atlanta. Scholars at Morehouse will cooperate with researchers at Spelman College in Atlanta and Virginia State University on the project, which is being funded by a $9 million grant from the National Science Foundation.
Researchers will investigate how and why HBCUs individually and collectively are so successful in supporting the nation’s broadening participation efforts in STEM, as well as what systems or programs exist at HBCUs that facilitate this success. The Center will study impactful STEM initiatives at 50 HBCUs, and produce data and a set of best practices that can be duplicated on a national scale to help mainstream state institutions and other liberal arts colleges graduate more minority STEM majors.
Michael E. Hodge, provost at Morehouse College, stated that “I am pleased that the NSF agrees with our vision that the success of STEM programs at Morehouse and other HBCUs should have a broader impact on STEM literacy, persistence, and diversity. This center will become a national hub for collaboration, research, and resources for successful STEM outcomes because it is designed within a culturally relevant framework focusing on assets and not deficits.”
Lycurgus Muldrow, director of sponsored research and integrative activities at Morehouse College, will serve as executive director of the STEM-US project.
