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.

The Vanderbilt University Law School has received a $10 million donation from alumna Sara J. Finley to establish an endowed chair and research program focused on advancing women’s equal rights in law and public policy. The gift will also contribute to the law school’s Dare to Grow campaign, which provides funding for student scholarships, faculty support, and program and infrastructure upgrades.

The University of Virginia women’s basketball team has received a donation from alumnus Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit and founder of Seven Seven Six, a venture capital firm. The new funds will support the basketball team’s player recruitment and retention efforts, as well as other financial and competitive needs.

A team of scholars from Baylor University and Rice University in Texas have received a $2.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to develop a treatment for bone metastases in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer, which affects roughly 40 percent of survivors with this subtype of cancer. The project will leverage chemistry, molecular biology, and materials science expertise from Rice’s SynthX Cancer and Baylor’s Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education has recently awarded a combined $1.6 million grant to 44 colleges, universities, and other postsecondary institutions across the state to help combat sexual assault on campus. The funds will assist the institutions in developing awareness, prevention, and response systems; increasing access to survivor resources; and establishing campus culture and climate initiatives. The full list of grant recipients can be found here.

California State University, Fullerton has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the Orange County Board of Supervisors to support the university’s Project Rebound Transformative Housing Expansion for Women. The initiative aims to create sustainable housing and advance academic opportunities for formerly incarcerated women as they reintegrate into their local communities.