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 United Negro College Fund (UNCF) has received a $10 million gift from Adage Capital Management to launch Project ACCLAIM (Accelerating Learning in Asset Investment Management) at Howard University in Washington, D.C. and Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. The new project aims to train the next generation of diverse students entering the financial services field. Students who enroll in the program will learn comprehensive investment management skills through coursework, experiential learning opportunities, and co-curricular activities. Project ACCLAIM plans to expand the initiative to other HBCUs in the coming years.
Jarvis Christian University has received a $3,418,794 grant from the United States Department of Education to improve its student completion rate. The grant is part of the department’s Postsecondary Student Success Grant program, which aims to equitably improve student outcomes in postsecondary settings.
Texas Southern University and Prairie View A&M University have each received a $200,000 grant from the Baker Hughes Foundation. TSU’s grant will support curriculum development, leadership training, and career services for students studying in the School of Business and College of Sciences, Engineering, and Technology. PVAMU’s grant will help create summer bridge programs, scholarships, leadership training, and tutoring services to engineering and business students.
Arthur Baker, owner of the Atlanta Falcons football team, has awarded $6.5 million to four HBCUs to renovate their athletics fields. Albany State University in Georgia, Clark Atlanta University in Georgia, Miles College in Fairfield, Alabama, and Savannah State University in Georgia will use their gifts to upgrade their current football and soccer facilities to turf fields.
The United States National Science Foundation’s Division of Materials Research has awarded a $4.2 million grant to Xavier University of Louisiana. The grant will enhance the university’s research capabilities and provide funding to an ongoing partnership between the HBCU and the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at the University of Chicago. The joint program was established in 2021 to create a pipeline for Xavier students to enroll in doctoral programs in materials science and engineering at the University of Chicago.
A research project from faculty in the department of biological sciences at Alabama State University has received a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. The project is focused on studying microbial ecosystem ecology to develop advanced cover crop strategies for sustainable agriculture.
Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina has been awarded a $736,838 grant from the United States Department of Defense to acquire new state-of-the-art equipment to facilitate multidisciplinary research in biotechnology, microbiology, and human life sciences. The grant will have a particular focus on supporting research in areas important to national security. Additionally, funding will support research training, career services, and retention initiatives for STEM students.
