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 School of Law at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, recently received a grant from AccessLex Institute to support the Program for Legal Access and Career Excellence (PLACE), which aims to make the path to law school clearer, more accessible, and more achievable for talented students across North Carolina. PLACE will create formal pathway partnerships with two HBCUs, Winston-Salem State University and North Carolina A&T State University, as well as the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
The Xavier Oschner College of Medicine at historically Black Xavier University of Louisiana received a $1.75 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The funds will support the planning and development of the forthcoming medical school, including efforts to pursue preliminary accreditation with the Liaison Committee on Medical Education.
Tuskegee University in Alabama received a $340,000 gift from alumnus Bill Winston, who serves as co-chair of the HBCU’s ongoing fundraising initiative “The Campaign for Tuskegee University: Solving the World’s Most Complex Problems.” A Tuskegee native, Dr. Winston earned his bachelor’s degree from then-Tuskegee Institute in 1967. He went on to serve six years as a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot before pursuing a successful career as a corporate executive and entrepreneur.
Historically Black Prairie View A&M University in Texas has received a nearly $500,000 investment from the National Cancer Institute to develop a certificate in computational genomics and biomedical data science. The certificate program will train students in genomic analysis, biomedical data interpretation, and data science tools to study complex diseases.
Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina recently received two anonymous gifts totaling $60,000 and a $193,488 grant from the Public Media Bridge Fund to support the HBCU’s radio station, WRVS-FM 89.9. The station has provided the Elizabeth City area with NPR news, sports broadcasting, and music for nearly four decades. In addition to serving as a news source, the station also serves as a campus learning laboratory, providing students with hands-on experience in broadcasting, journalism, and media production.
