Higher Education Gifts or Grants of Interest to African Americans

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.

Becky White, an associate professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has received a $677,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to support HIV prevention among African American women as they transition from incarceration back into their communities. The research project aims to develop a model for community health workers to connect Black women who have recently been released from criminal justice systems with local re-entry councils and health centers.

The University of California, Irvine has recently been awarded a $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to lead the next phase of the University of California System’s California Alliance for Minority Participation (CAMP) program. CAMP was founded over three decades ago to promote STEM education among students from underrepresented backgrounds. The new funding will support the program’s summer research scholarships, graduate school application preparation courses, and faculty mentorship initiatives. The grant will also fund research into the best practices for STEM student success.

The Office of Career Services at Alabama State University has been awarded a total of $270,000 in donations from Honda to support the office’s operations. The funds will be used to purchase new software for managing the HBCU’s career development initiatives for undergraduate students. Additionally, a portion of the new funding will be used to create a program that teaches students how to drive.

A team of researchers led by Prairie View A&M University has received a $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to advance semiconductor education, research, and workforce development at three historically Black colleges and universities. The funds will also support the development of new certificate programs and degree tracks for both undergraduate and graduate students. The other partner institutions are Alabama A&M University and Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio.

The City University of New York School of Medicine has been awarded a $19.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to establish The New York Center for Minority Health, Equity, and Social Justice. The research center will investigate the ongoing racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare and promote the participation of students from underrepresented backgrounds in biomedical research.