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.
California State University, Northridge received an award from the John Randolph Hayes and Dora Hayes Foundation to digitize a collection of photographs taken by Vera Jackson, the only woman who worked in the 1940s as a staff photographer for The California Eagle — the oldest Black newspaper in Los Angeles. The funds will allow archivists at the university’s Tom & Ethel Bradley Center to digitize, research, and create metadata for 2,550 items, including photographs, film reels, and personal and professional papers.
Fayetteville State University in North Carolina received a $10 million award from the U.S. Department of War to establish an interdisciplinary research program focused on applied artificial intelligence for defense systems, including contested logistics technologies and biomanufacturing. The funds will support research opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students, preparing them for careers in artificial intelligence, data science, advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, logistics, and the national-security workforce.
The University of the District of Columbia secured a $9.9 million federal award to establish a research and education program in chemistry-enabled quantum information device manufacturing. Building on the HBCU’s existing strengths in nanotechnology and molecular spintronics, the initiative will expand collaboration between engineering and chemistry, strengthen graduate education, and enhance research infrastructure.
Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida, has received a 10-year, $500,000 commitment from Suncoast Credit Union to support programs for students, faculty, and alumni. In addition to providing financial support, the credit union will also participate in career fairs and job shadowing panels, deliver financial education workshops, and create internship and hiring pathways for students at the HBCU.
A team of researchers at the Howard University College of Medicine has received a $3.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue their efforts in investigating why people with sickle cell disease and sickle cell trait are protected against HIV-1 infection. Over the next five years, the researchers will aim to determine if the underlying mechanism associated with HIV resistance can be reproduced without sickle cell disease or trait, potentially leading to a drug or other intervention against HIV.
Tuskegee University in Alabama has received three awards totaling $500,000 that will support the preservation and accessibility of some of the HBCU’s most significant historical and cultural collections. The first grant, a $100,000 award from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, will improve the storage conditions for the University Archives and the Legacy Museum. A second $100,000 grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services will sustain digitization efforts launched through a previous partnership between the HBCU and the Smithsonian Institution. The third grant, a $300,000 award from the Council on Library and Information Resources, will fund a three-year project focused on digitizing and preserving the legacy of Thomas Monroe Campbell Sr., the nation’s first African American agricultural extension agent.
The Center for Continuing and Professional Studies at Morgan State University in Baltimore was awarded an $800,000 grant from the Crankstar Foundation to continue providing reentry scholarships for nontraditional adult learners pursuing bachelor’s degrees. Since 2016, the Crankstar Reentry Scholarship has provided critical financial assistance to students returning to college after an extended interruption in their education. The latest funds will extend the scholarship program at Morgan State through 2030.
Albany State University in Georgia was awarded a $2.24 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency to develop and launch a regional entrepreneurship education program serving southwest Georgia. The two-year initiative will provide local entrepreneurs with practical business education, industry-recognized credentials, and connections to resources designed to help them start, strengthen, and grow their businesses. As part of the program, the HBCU has also established a new certificate in entrepreneurship and economic impact.
Morris College in Sumter, South Carolina, received a grant from SC Student Loan Corporation to launch a new career readiness program offering a structured career pathway to students during all four years at the HBCU. The funding will support career readiness workshops, internship stipends, financial literacy education, valuable mentorship opportunities, and strong employer engagement.
