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.

Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia, has announced that it has received a donation from alumna Peggy Patrick to create the Roanoke College Women’s Athletic Endowment, supporting the college’s 10 varsity athletic programs for women. Patrick, an economics major from Washington, D.C., earned a varsity letter in field hockey and basketball. She graduated in 1951 and went on to become an executive at General Electric.

The College of education at American University in Washington, D.C., received a $5 million grant from JP Morgan Chase to support the PEDALS program that aims to increase access to education, training, and financial support for Black and Latina women pursuing careers in early childhood education. The grant will support the establishment of a credential program by starting with a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential and ending with a bachelor’s degree. Trinity Washington University is a partner in the program. “Most personnel in early childhood education in the district are women of color,” said Cheryl Holcomb-McCoy, dean of the School of Education at American University. “They work in early childhood education working in childcare centers at a very low wage and often can’t even support their own families. We hope to have graduated about 300 D.C. residents, and majority of them women, with their CDA credential.”

Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina, has received a grant from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund to support the college’s PERSIST (Pipeline Enhancement to Retain Students via Inclusive STEM Training) program. The initiative seeks to address the disparities in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers of women and individuals from underrepresented backgrounds. PERSIST will provide the opportunity for rising 10th – 12th-grade female students to gain three college credits and further their interest in STEM. The program will take place during the summer of 2023 and 2024.