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.
Auburn University in Alabama received a $499,799 grant from the National Park Service for a project for the stabilization and exterior rehabilitation of the Tankersley Rosenwald School in Hope Hull, Alabama. Nearly 400 Rosenwald Schools were built in Alabama between 1912-32 to serve as educational facilities for African American children.
Historically Black Texas Southern University in Houston is now providing breast cancer screening, among other services, for African American and other ethnic minority women in several nearby counties, as part of a $1 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. The funds also provide evidence-based culturally appropriate breast cancer awareness and education services for a population that has traditionally been underserved and at higher risk for breast cancer.
An earlier study surveyed 7,200 teens in North Carolina every six months from 2003 to 2007 about their social networks, family life, and neighborhoods. Now the University of California, Davis has received a five-year, $2.2 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to conduct a follow-up study of the same individuals that will examine how the subjects’ exposure to structural racism as teens relates to substance abuse, criminal convictions, and psychological distress as adults.
Historically Black Grambling State University in Louisiana received a gift of 900 gallons of paint with a value of $81,000 from Benjamin Moore Inc. The paint can be used in many areas on campus including classrooms, campus living and housing, and select equipment. “We appreciate gifts that are in time, talent, and treasure,” said Rick Gallot, president of Grambling State University. “Today’s gift to the university pretty much covers all three. We’re in the middle of terms in our student housing. Painting is a natural part of what we do [at this time of the year]. The savings the university will realize with the donation is something that will go a long way.”
The Center for AIDS Research, a joint effort of the University of California, Los Angeles and historically Black Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, has received a five-year, $11 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. The grant will fund research addressing health inequities that have fueled the spread of HIV in marginalized communities. The Center for AIDS Research will strengthen and amplify the impact of ongoing research at both UCLA and Charles R. Drew University, as well as forming new partnerships with community groups across Los Angeles and in nations that are severely affected by HIV. Its aim is to prevent new HIV infections, reduce deaths among people who are living with HIV and develop strategies for eradicating HIV.
In reference to grants and gifts, I looking for assistance in restoring a slave cemetery in the Laurens County Georgia area. Laurens Hill Baptist Church has started the restoration process. Suggestions and ideas are welcomed in our effort too unfold our rich history.