Grants or Gifts Relating to Women in Higher Education

Here is this week’s news of grants and gifts that may be of particular interest to women in higher education.

North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro is the lead institution in a three-year, $549,999 grant from the Office of Violence Against Women of the U.S. Department of Justice. Funds from the grant will strengthen responses to crimes of sexual assault and domestic violence and enhance collaboration among local law enforcement and victim advocacy organizations. Participating in the grant program will be two other educational institutions in North Carolina: Bennett College in Greensboro and Shaw University in Raleigh.

The University of Massachusetts at Amherst received a three-year, $450,000 grant from the Susan G. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer Research. The project will develop an “off-the-shelf survivorship support toolkit for breast cancer survivors.” The project is under the direction of Rachel Walker, and assistant professor in the College of Nursing at the university. Dr. Walker is a graduate of the University of Virginia. She holds a bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. in nursing from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

The College of St. Benedict, a women’s college in St. Joseph, Minnesota, received a $10 million pledge from an anonymous donor to create the Center for Ethical Leadership in Action. The center will increase opportunities for the college’s students in experiential learning including study abroad, service learning, fellowships and internships, and undergraduate research.

Hollins University, a college for women in Roanoke, Virginia, received a pledge of $5 million from anonymous donor, contingent on the university raising $10 million in matching funds by June 30. In encouraging alumnae and other friends of the college to contribute to meet the matching goal, Hollins University President Nancy Gray said, “we share the donor’s confidence and hope everyone is inspired to participate. No gift is too small and every single gift matters.”