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.
Cisco has expanded its support of North Carolina Central University, building on the company’s more than $9 million in prior donations. The new funds will continue to strengthen the HBCU’s work in technology, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and student success. Recent gifts have contributed to the Technology, Law, and Policy Center in the School of Law, the Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Equity Research, the Cheatham-White Scholarship Fund, and various cybersecurity initiatives in the School of Business.
Scholars from Howard University and Bowie State University in Maryland have received a four-year, $4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education for a new project designed to strengthen AI literacy while emphasizing academic integrity, ethical use, and critical evaluation of AI-generated content. Led by LaTanya Brown-Robertson, associate dean for academic innovation and student success at Howard’s College of Arts and Sciences, the initiative will provide training to 400 undergraduate and graduate students and 50 faculty members each year with plans to expand to secondary school teachers in the project’s third year.
The Broadwell College of Business and Economics at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina received a $130,000 grant from the SECU Foundation to support the HBCU’s 2026 SECU Public Fellows Program. The new funding will place up to 20 undergraduate interns with public-sector and community organizations throughout North Carolina.
Alabama A&M University was awarded a $77,770 grant from the National Science Foundation to participate in a multi-university research initiative focused on improving STEM teacher preparation, effectiveness, and retention in high-need school districts. Through data-driven research and sustained collaboration, participating institutions will examine the factors that influence teacher persistence and classroom effectiveness and identify strategies to strengthen STEM teacher preparation programs.
