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 Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Kentucky has received a five-year, $1 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help establish the Nehemiah Project: Strengthening Historic African American Congregations. The Nehemiah Project will involve 13 primarily rural, historic Black churches in Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio. Each participating congregation will receive guidance and support to devise specific strategies for defining their spiritual values, connecting with their surrounding communities, and responding to congregational challenges in effective ways.
Historically Black Howard University in Washington, D.C., was awarded a $570,000 grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research to support the acquisition of specialized lab equipment critical to advancing a wide range of research activities in civil and environmental engineering and other disciplines. Howard University researchers will use the multi-disciplinary grant to support research into advanced materials, water treatment and environmental chemistry, orthotics and prosthetics, and traumatic brain injuries.
Delaware State University received a $900,000 grant from the Executive Leadership Council, a nonprofit organization that aims to foster the development of Black executives. The four-year grant will help the university’s College of Business develop and execute a Black Male Initiative to increase the number of Black male executives in corporate America.
Rice University in Houston, Texas, received a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. “Diasporic Cultures of Slavery: Engaging Disciplines, Engaging Communities” is the title of the project to study forgotten and newly uncovered artifacts and records related to slavery. The research team plans to come up with new ways to represent the history of enslaved people in different settings, through public history projects and the interpretation of archaeological sites.
The Vanderbilt University School of Nursing in Nashville received a $3.2 million grant from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration to fund a scholarship program that will provide economically disadvantaged students from underrepresented racial and ethnic minority backgrounds with scholarships, support, and education tailored for work in rural or underserved areas.
The City of St. Petersburg, Florida, has contributed $125,000 to the University of South Florida Foundation to help enhance diversity in the ocean sciences. The gift to the USF College of Marine Science’s “Bridge to the Doctorate” fellowship endowment will support underrepresented students of color.
