Our faculty and staff work diligently to develop programs and secure opportunities that reflect the College’s commitment to academic excellence. Here is a roundup of exciting new grant awards recently secured by our campus community:
Coca-Cola Foundation First Generation Scholars Program
The Coca-Cola Foundation, the global philanthropic arm of The Coca-Cola Company, recently awarded Spelman College $1,220,000 for the Fall 2024 to Spring 2028 Coca-Cola First Generation Scholarship Program. The program began in 2012 to provide tuition assistance for students who are the first in their family to attend a four-year college or university. As part of the program, 10 first-year Spelman students will receive a $25,000 scholarship each year for four years, as well as cohort programming led by Dean of Students Dr. Sylvia Griffin. The program will consist of a series of initiatives and programs designed specifically to address the unique challenges and opportunities faced by first-generation students. Dr. Griffin has worked extensively for the past several years with first-generation students. She is committed to providing the Coca-Cola Scholars with the support and resources they need to succeed and to ensuring that their college experience is both rewarding and transformative.
Lasting Legacies: Preserving and Providing Access to the Rich Audiovisual History of Spelman College
The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) recently granted the College over $49,000 to support the Lasting Legacies: Preserving and Providing Access to the Rich Audiovisual History of Spelman College project proposed by Spelman College Archivist and principal investigator Holly Smith. The project was one of 26 selected from 74 Recordings at Risk applications and will be used to digitize several different Spelman audio-visual items from the 1950s to the 2000s, including lectures and public programs. The Recordings at Risk program is a national regranting program administered by CLIR and generously funded by the Mellon Foundation.
Thurgood Marshall College Foundation + Boeing
As part of the multi-year partnership between the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Boeing to support campus recruitment initiatives, career immersion activities and student scholarships at HBCUs, Spelman College received its second grant for $50,000 to fund its summer Math RaMP program. Spearheaded by Dr. Naiomi Cameron, professor and chair of mathematics at Spelman, the Math RaMP program works to prepare and direct talented students of color to careers and graduate education in the mathematical sciences. The Math RaMP program recently wrapped up its academic year and summer programming after a virtual session where students proudly presented the results of their immersive research experience in mathematics.
Georgia Power Foundation
Dr. Tiffany Oliver, professor of biology and co-director of the Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (WiSTEM) Program, hosted the Virtual Data Science Summer Internship Program funded by the Georgia Power Foundation. The program was originally developed to support students during COVID-19 after the cancellation of many internships in 2020 but has since continued due to its success. The Georgia Power Foundation funds this experiential learning opportunity which exposes students from all disciplines to data-science principles and fosters deeper learning through a project experience, while also providing a stipend during the course of study.
Trott Family Philanthropies
Trott Family Philanthropies recently granted Spelman College $400,000 to support outreach and recruitment in rural communities as part of Spelman College’s recent joining of the STARS (Small Town and Rural Students) College Network. The network is a coalition of 32 of the nation’s most prominent institutions dedicated to ensuring students from rural and small-town America have the support they need to pursue higher education. Chelsea Holley, director of admissions, developed the proposal and will lead the program. To read more about Spelman’s involvement with the STARS College Network, visit spelman.edu.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Dr. Marta Dark McNeese, associate professor and chair of physics at Spelman, was recently selected as a Phase 1 awardee of the 2024 NASA MUREP (Minority University Research & Education Project) Partnership Learning Annual Notification program. The $50,000 prize will support Dr. Dark’s collaboration with consultant JBJ Technology to investigate the potential of using an interferometric optical sensor for diagnostic biomedical applications. The project will focus on translating fundamental research concepts into practice, with appreciable health outcomes.
The National Security Agency
The National Security Agency (NSA) granted Spelman College $210,901 to support Spelman’s STARTALK Student Program, a summer program proposed by Dr. Zhengbin Lu, principal investigator and associate professor of Chinese at Spelman. The STARTALK program provides free Chinese language and cultural education to middle and high school students. Spelman successfully kicked off its first STARTALK summer program this June. Alongside studying the Chinese language, 24 student participants cooked traditional Chinese food, learned regional dances, learned Chinese calligraphy and martial arts, toured Chinatown and participated in virtual high-speed trains sessions across mainland China. For the closing ceremony, the student participants showcased their achievements by performing traditional Chinese dances, singing Chinese songs and reciting Chinese poems. Upon completion of the program, each participant is expected to be able to enroll in the next level of language classes.