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.
Cyrus Jackson, an alumnus of historically Black Savannah State University in Georgia, made a $1.5 million in-kind contribution to the university’s business school. Jackson is the owner of the company that produces Dr. Hobbs Antibacterial Hand Sanitizer. The donation will allow the university to distribute a full supply of the hand sanitizer to every HBCUs in the nation. The donation is expected to satisfy the full sanitizer needs of all HBCUs.
Morehouse College, the historically Black educational institution in Atlanta, received a $2 million donation from the Ray Charles Foundation to provide scholarships for students majoring in business. The donation will fund the Valerie Ervin Student Success Endowed Scholarship, named after The Ray Charles Foundation’s president, and the Robert C. Davidson Jr. Student Success Endowed Scholarship, named after the foundation’s chairman, a 1967 graduate of Morehouse and chairman emeritus of the Morehouse Board of Trustees.
The Kelley School of Business at Indiana University received a $1 million grant from the Conrad Prebys Foundation to support scholarships for students from underrepresented groups. The funds will increase the scope of the Conrad Prebys Scholars program that was established in 2015. Prebys was an alumnus of Indiana University and a property developer in Southern California. He died in 2016.
Howard University, Hampton University, and North Carolina A&T State University will share a $1 million grant from the PSEG Foundation. The foundation is the charitable arm of the Public Service Enterprise Group, an energy company based in Newark, New Jersey. The funds will be used for scholarships for students in STEM disciplines.
Historically Black Southern University will receive nearly $300,000 from the National Science Foundation to help support education, skill development, and workforce readiness for students going into technical careers. The grant will support dual enrollment courses where high school students can earn a certificate in engineering technology that can be transferred as credits when they enroll at any of the three Southern University campuses in Louisiana.
