Florida Memorial partners with Big Brothers Big Sisters for mentorship and scholarship program

By Sheyla Fairley

According to an article, a partnership was formed between Florida Memorial University, Miami Gardens, FL, and Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) of Miami, a nonprofit youth mentoring organization, to “set up local high school students for success” where university faculty and staff will serve as mentors, “Bigs,” to students from Miami Carol City and Miami Norland senior high schools.

In addition, BBBS Miami will be promising “college scholarships to all students participating in the program upon graduation.”

“The importance of faculty and staff’s involvement as Bigs is that when you think about their journey from when they started college to now, you have someone that can guide these Littles to talk about careers and so much more,” said Gale Nelson, BBBS Miami CEO and president. “It’s a privilege and blessing for Littles to get these personal relationships, but also to remove how foreign a college campus can be and instead show them how attainable, and accessible college is.”

For more information, read the full article here.

Undocumented students offered scholarships by MSU

By Sheyla Fairley

Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD, is partnering with TheDream.US to give undocumented immigrants a chance for higher education by offering scholarships.

As stated in a release, undocumented students will receive “$33,000 over the course of four years which will cover tuition and fees along with housing on campus.” The scholarship is available to students who came to the U.S. “before the age of 16 and before November 2017” and is also available to those “with or without [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] or [Temporary Protected Status] status.”

“Just knowing we have these funds available to help students is a wonderful thing because we try to make sure we help all students be able to afford college,” said MSU Director of Financial Aid Tanya Wilkerson .

The deadline to apply for the scholarship is February 28, 2023.

VSU program helps employees buy a home

By Sheyla Fairley

Virginia State University’s, Petersburg, VA, “Home Assistance Payment Initiative,” or VSU-HAPI, is a new program to provide employees the funds to purchase a home.

According to an article, the VSU-HAPI will provide “eligible homebuyers up to a $10,000 match toward the down payment or closing cost of a newly purchased home within the city limits of Petersburg, VA, or in the Village of Ettrick, in Chesterfield County, Virginia,” but the “HAPI recipients must be employed by Virginia State University.”

“VSU is one of the largest employers in Chesterfield’s Ettrick community, and we are located within mere steps of Petersburg. Our HAPI program will have an economic and demographic impact on those communities we are part of,” said VSU president Dr. Makola M. Abdullah. “We expect the program to further assist with retaining and attracting qualified employees. If those employees live, shop, and educate their children in the community where they work, it will benefit our employees and the community tremendously. That makes this initiative a win-win.”

For more details, read the full article here.

Howard University receives $90M research contract from the U.S. Department of Defense

By Sheyla Fairley

Howard University, Washington, DC, has been awarded a $90 million military research contract where it will be the first HBCU to lead a University Affiliated Research Center (UARC), which will be funded by the U.S. Air Force and Department of Defense, where it will be focusing on researching tactical autonomy.

“This center puts Howard University at the forefront of progressive science and technology efforts. While the primary goal of the center is conducting valuable research for the Air Force and Department of Defense, this center is also meant to help Howard and the consortium schools increase their research capacity. I have no doubt that this work will move us one step closer to our goal of reaching an R1 classification,” said Howard president Wayne A. I. Frederick.

Read the full article, here.

FAMU professor goes viral on TikTok for teaching a lesson on diabetes through singing

By Sheyla Fairley

As stated in a release, Jamal Brown, a pharmacy professor at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, FL, went viral on TikTok for the way he teaches his students about diabetes by singing and playing the keyboard with students singing along to, “Insulin secretion, suppressing glucagon, slowing down my food, my brain says I’m full.”

“Honestly, I was pretty shocked because I really wasn’t expecting it. Over the weekend, the views were just increasing by the thousands. I was appreciative about people actually caring about the content in the video, too, because it sparked their interest in pharmacy,” said Tamia Martin, a third-year student at the university’s College of Pharmacy.