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 Black Women’s Health Imperative has announced that it will launch the SEE-US program (Socially/Emotionally Empowered-Unapologetically Smoke-Free) to educate, train and mobilize Black women on historically Black college and university campuses in the fight against smoking/vaping. The initiative will be supported with a $1 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Participating institutions are Tuskegee University in Alabama, Alabama State University, Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Dillard University in New Orleans, Tennessee State University, Mississippi Valley State University, and Jackson State University in Mississippi.
The Cleveland Clinic and The Howley Foundation are partnering with Ursuline College in Pepper Pike, Ohio, to expand the ASPIRE Nurse Scholars Program to offer college scholarships to underrepresented students interested in pursuing registered nursing careers. The Howley Foundation has contributed $10 million to the program. Approximately 25 students per year from Cleveland-area high schools enter the ASPIRE program as high school juniors. They become eligible for scholarships to the nursing school at Ursuline College.
The Divinity School at historically Black Howard University in Washington, D.C., received a $1 million grant from the Lilly Endowment to launch the Ethical Leadership and Racial Justice Initiative. The initiative will support students in their quest to use their theological training to solve the nation’s socio-political, economic, and moral crises. The goal is to produce the next generation of ethical leaders committed to racial justice.
Historically Black Prairie View A&M University in Texas received an anonymous $10 million donation. The funds will go to assisting students who are suffering financially, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Panther Success Grants will be available to in-state, out-of-state and international students, providing $2,000 a semester or $4,000 annually to juniors and seniors on track to finish their degree programs.
Fordham University School of Law in New York City received an anonymous 41.4 million gift that will be used for a scholarship fund for students from first-generation or underrepresented communities. The gift will also support the Increasing Diversity in Education and the Law (IDEAL) program, which helps identify motivated and talented underrepresented students in the New York City area and exposes them to the many facets of the legal profession.
Mississippi Power, in partnership with the Southern Company Charitable Foundation, announced $825,000 in technology grants for four historically Black colleges and universities in Mississippi. Jackson State University, Mississippi Valley State University, Rust College, and Tougaloo College will receive grants to provide students with scholarships, internships, leadership development, and access to technology and innovation to support career readiness.
