Ransomware Group Attacked Xavier University of Louisiana
Historically Black Xavier University in New Orleans was subjected to a ransomware attack by the Vice Society. Xavier University declined to pay the ransom and Vice Society in return said it has leaked data on students and staff. However, the university has not been able to determine what if any information was leaked.
Texas Southern University Enters Into a Partnership With the Brookhaven National Laboratory
Under the agreement, university faculty and students will have the opportunity to conduct research and intern at Brookhaven Lab and other national labs.
Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas, to Offer Its First Graduate Degree Program
Starting this summer, the college will offer an MBA program, the first graduate degree program in the institution's 145-year history.
Tuskegee University Enters Partnership to Aid Agriculture Development in Nepal
Historically Black Tuskegee University in Alabama is partnering with Sathguru Inc., the global consulting firm based in India, and the Nepal Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU) on a project to boost rural agricultural production in Nepal. The initiative is being funded by a $5 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Spike Lee Creates New Fellowship Program for Graduates of Atlanta HBCUs
Film director Spike Lee in conjunction with Gersh, the Hollywood-based talent agency, has established the Spike Lee Fellows program. Under the program, five graduates of Atlanta HBCUs will be selected and provided with student debt relief, industry mentorship, post-graduate internships, and full-time employment in the entertainment industry.
Xavier University Teams Up With Ochsner Health to Establish a New Medical School
The nonprofit Ochsner Health is an integrated healthcare system with more than 36,000 employees and over 4,600 employed and affiliated physicians in over 90 medical specialties and subspecialties. It operates 47 hospitals and more than 370 health and urgent care centers across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the Gulf South.
UNCF Receives $190 Million for Scholarships for Students From Underrepresented Groups
The United Negro College Fund (UNCF), which supports 37 private historically Black colleges and universities, has received its largest philanthropic corporate gift in its 78-year history from Boston-based financial services leader Fidelity Investments. Fidelity is donating $190 million to UNCF over the next five years to create the Fidelity Scholars Program.
Howard and Georgetown Universities Create the Center for Medical Humanities and Health Justice
The Georgetown-Howard Center for Medical Humanities and Health Justice will focus on reducing health disparities in Washington by leveraging methods of critical inquiry at the heart of the humanities. The center is being funded by a $3 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Tennessee State University Reveals Its Plans for $250 Million Received From the State
The funds will be used for capital improvement projects for six structures on campus. Many of the campus structures have gone without improvements for decades. The funds will provide for building renovations and upgrades to electrical and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems.
Fort Valley State University Approved to Begin Its Bachelor’s Degree Program in Nursing
Historically Black Fort Valley State University in Georgia received approval from the state's Board of Nursing to begin a bachelor's degree in nursing program. The four-year pre-licensure degree program is now accepting applications, and its first class of nursing students will start in August 2023.
Dillard University to Relaunch the National Center for Black-Jewish Relations
Under the leadership of Dr. Samuel Dubous Cook, the fourth president of Dillard University, the National Center for Black-Jewish Relations operated between 1898 and 1997 and hosted national conferences and produced the book, Black-Jewish Relations: Dillard University Conference Papers.
Howard University Receives $60 Million Award for the Air Force’s Tactical Autonomy Research
The United States Department of Defense recently announced that it is establishing its fifteenth university-affiliated research center at Howard University in Washington, D.C. It's the first university-affiliated research center associated with one of America's historically Black colleges and universities and the first sponsored by the Air Force.
Simmons College Forms a Partnership With the University of Kentucky
The agreement calls for collaborative programs offering opportunities for students of both institutions to further professional and personal development. The initial focus will be on educational and career opportunities for Simmons College students through the College of Law, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the College of Education at the University of Kentucky.
Daniel Dawes to Lead the New Global Health Equity Institute at Meharry Medical College...
The Global Health Equity Institute is the first step in achieving the goal of creating a School of Global Public Health at Meharry, which will be the first school of its kind at a historically Black college or university. Meharry hopes to enroll its first cohort of students in the School of Global Public Health in 2026.
Lane College Creates a New Pathway for Students to Obtain Advanced Degrees in Nursing
Historically Black Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee, is partnering with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. Under the agreement, students that earn an associate's degree can gain admission to bachelor's degree programs in nursing at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.
Seven HBCUs Receive Funding to Enhance Their Technology Infrastructure
These grants from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, totaling more than $33.5 million, were awarded to 12 minority-serving colleges and universities in 10 states. Seven of the recipients are historically Black colleges and universities.
Tennessee State’s Aristocrat of Bands Takes Home a Grammy Award
The Tennessee State University Aristocrat of Bands made history recently when it became the first collegiate band in the history of the Grammy Awards to receive a nomination. They made further history by winning the award in the Best Roots Gospel Album Category, beating out Willie Nelson and three other nominees.
The Ida B. Wells Society Finds a New Home at Morehouse College in Atlanta
The Society will prepare Morehouse students for ethical careers in journalism through skills building in investigative and social justice reporting. The Society, formerly at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will be based on Morehouse’s campus.
Historically Black Miles College in Alabama Is Partnering With Wallace Community College
Under the agreement, Wallace Community College students will be considered for admission to Miles College after earning an associate degree and maintaining at least a 2.0 grade point average. Up to a maximum of 64 semester hours could be transferred and credited toward a bachelor's degree at Miles College.
Prairie View A&M University Now Offering Bachelor’s Degrees in Public Health
The bachelor of science degree curriculum is designed for students interested in pursuing a career as a public health professional and/or a graduate program in public health. The bachelor of arts program is for those interested in seeking admission into professional schools, such as medical school, dental school, or physician assistant programs with an interest in public health.
Howard University Expands Its Research Collaborations With Amazon
Under the agreement, Amazon will fund faculty research projects in the College of Engineering and Architecture at the university with an initial focus on machine learning and natural language processing.
Hampton University Housing a Professional Repertory Theatre on Campus
Historically Black Hampton University in Virginia has announced the launch of the Hampton University Repertory Theatre. The university says that the new theater is the only professional theater company housed at a historically Black college or university.
Clark Atlanta University Revives Its Southern Center for Studies in Public Policy
The entity will now be known as the W.E.B. DuBois Southern Center for Studies in Public Policy. The center will focus on three areas: the American South, the Global South, and university initiatives. Moreover, it will also commit to expanding its research into the African diaspora.
Spelman College Students Will Participate in Ocean Exploration Research
Spelman College, the historically Black liberal arts educational institution for women in Atlanta, has entered into a partnership with OceanX, a nonprofit organization involved in global ocean exploration, to offer the college's students an in-depth experience with ocean exploration and marine science and operations.
Howard University Men’s Swimming Team Makes a Statement
The men's swimming and diving team at Howard University in Washington, D.C., recently won the Northeast Conference championship meet held in Geneva, Ohio. Howard is the only HBCU that continues to operate a varsity swim team program at the NCAA Division I level.
Edward Waters University in Jacksonville to Offers a Host of New Degree Programs
Since 2018, historically Black Edward Waters University in Jacksonville, Florida, has more than doubled the number of degree programs offered to students. The university recently announced that by the end of this year, it will have introduced six new undergraduate degree offerings and two new graduate degrees.
Legislation Would Allow Virginia’s Public HBCUs to Offer In-State Tuition to Non-Virginians
Under the legislation, Virginia State University and Norfolk State University would be able to offer in-state tuition rates to any out-of-state student who has completed 30 credit hours of college coursework in data science and technology, science and engineering, health care, or education.
Judy Perkins to Lead the the National Center for Infrastructure Transformation at Prairie View...
Historically Black Prairie View A&M University has been selected by the U.S. Department of Transportation to lead a historic national-tier University Transportation Center, which will focus on enhancing the durability and extending the life of the nation’s infrastructure. Judy Perkins, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, will lead the new center.
Fort Valley State University Enters Partnership With the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Fort Valley State University is joining forces with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, New Mexico State University, and the University of Texas at San Antonio in an effort to increase diversity in the environmental sciences and natural resources industries.
Howard University Teams Up With Columbia University Press for a New Book Series
The new book series is entitled Black Lives in the Diaspora: Past/Present/Future. This collaboration represents the first step in a larger planned partnership between the two universities to publish more robustly in Black studies, and to recruit and support a cohort of editorial fellows to provide an entryway for recent HBCU graduates into the publishing industry.
Fayetteville State University to Create the Institute for Ethics and Leadership
William J. Gillis, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, has committed $750,000 to honor a “simple act of kindness in troubled times” exchanged in 1945 between his father, Duncan Alexander “Zan” Gillis, and William Jones, a former business manager at what is now Fayetteville State University.
Harvard University Launches Major Effort to Help HBCUs Digitize Their Library Collections
The HBCU Library Alliance and Harvard Library announced a four-year, $6 million project to develop strategies and methods for HBCU libraries and archives to scale up the processing and digitization of their collections.
University of the District of Columbia Partners With Michigan Technological University
According to the agreement, Michigan Technological University will provide mentorship in helping the University of the District of Columbia attain R2 status within the Carnegie Classification system for research universities. In return, UDC will provide cultural responsiveness mentorship to MTU.
Fisk University and Vanderbilt University Team Up for New Postdoctoral Fellowships
These fellowships have been designed to offer opportunities for recent Vanderbilt Ph.D. graduates to build their teaching and scholarship portfolios, receive mentoring from faculty at both institutions and allow time for publishing their dissertations or preparing other research papers.
Prairie View A&M University to Offer the Peace Corps Prep Certificate Program
Through a combination of coursework and hands-on experience, students will develop four core competencies that are critical to intercultural fieldwork: foreign language proficiency, intercultural competence, professional and leadership development, and sector-specific skills in one of Peace Corps’ six sectors.
Bowie State University in Maryland Adds Two New Master’s Degree Programs
Historically Black Bowie State University in Maryland has announced the establishment of two new master's degree programs. The new programs are in applied biotechnology and molecular biology and the internet of things and internet technologies. The latter program is offered completely online.
