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 Emory University School of Nursing in Atlanta received a grant from the National Institute of Nursing Research for a project entitled “A Behavioral Intervention to Reduce Psychological Distress Symptoms Among Black Gender Minority Women Experiencing Chronic Stigma.” The grant provides funding for three years to develop and examine the feasibility of an intervention to improve psychological distress symptom management related to chronic stigma exposure in a community-based setting. The grant is under the direction of Athena D.F. Sherman, an assistant professor at the nursing school. Dr. Sherman is a graduate of San Jose State University in California and holds a Ph.D. in nursing from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
Spelman College, a historically Black educational institution for women in Atlanta, has announced a $10 million grant from The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation to support an on-campus creative hub for young entrepreneurs and innovators. The funding will establish the Arthur M. Blank Innovation Lab. The space will a campus-wide resource for entrepreneurial ideation, unconventional research, experimental pedagogy, and exploratory play.
Historically Black Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina has been awarded a $28.2 million grant by the U.S. Department of Education to create and activate a program that will help students prepare for postsecondary education. The Gear Up Grant is one of the largest grants in the history of the university. The grant will impact about 16,000 middle school through college students in three counties over a seven-year period.
The Thurgood Marshall College Fund and United Negro College Fund each received a $3 million grant from Google designed to help expand career pathways and opportunities for students in the technology industry who are attending historically Black colleges and universities. This unrestricted gift will provide the nonprofit organizations with financial support for scholarships, faculty programs, research grants, and curriculum development.
Historically Black Alabama State University in Montgomery received a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Army. The funding will be used to acquire advanced equipment for the psychology department to enhance the quality of research and research-related education to enhance the teaching and learning of statistics in the behavioral science areas. The grant is under the direction of Calvin Smith, an assistant professor of psychology at the university.
Simmons College of Kentucky, a historically Black educational institution in Louisville, received a $500,000 grant from JPMorgan Chase. The grant will allow the college to utilize new data science software in its programs and not just in STEM degree fields.
Historically Black North Carolina Central University in Durham and North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro will share in a three-year $250,000 grant program from the state of North Carolina for a program to monitor water quality in North Carolina lakes.
