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.
James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, received a $2 million grant over four and a half years from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to secure the digital future of the Furious Flower Poetry Center, the nation’s first academic center devoted to Black poetry. The grant will provide funding for archival description, digital preservation, and global access to an extensive archive of Furious Flower poetry and spoken word performance videos held by the university library’s special collections unit.
Historically Black Hampton University in Virginia received a $1 million grant from the New York Life Foundation – the charitable arm of New York Life Insurance – for the establishment of six separate funds, with the focus of helping diverse STEM-focused scholars succeed and grow in their academic careers. Among the programs supported by the grant will be 16, $20,000 scholarships and two $40,000 scholarships.
Mississippi College and historically Black Jackson State University will receive a $5 million Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER) grant for a joint venture aimed at promoting and protecting population health. Among several initiatives, the collaboration allows for the creation of a bachelor’s degree in public health program at both institutions, creating a pipeline of students with undergraduate degrees who can easily transition to a master’s then doctoral program in public health at Jackson State.
Tufts University in Massachusetts has been awarded a two-year, $325,000 grant from the Barr Foundation to establish the Racial Equity in Policy and Planning program. The grant will support five students per year who are admitted to two-year master’s degree programs in urban and environmental policy and planning. These individuals must be from underrepresented groups, have demonstrated a commitment to advancing racial justice, and exhibit potential to be racial justice change agents in the policy and planning fields. The students will receive full-tuition scholarships, stipends provided by the Barr Foundation, paid internships, and programming to build leadership skills, develop networks, and provide socio-emotional support.
