Here is this week’s news of grants and gifts that may be of particular interest to women in higher education.
Scripps College in Claremont, California, received a $500,000 gift from an alumna to support student-athletes at the women’s college. The gift will fund student scholarships as well as community/wellness-focused events to address the realities of balancing rigorous academics with athletic commitments. Proposed initiatives supported by the fund include additional dining access to accommodate students-athletes’ schedules and the introduction of “Scripps Night” to foster community at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps athletic events.
St. Catherine University was awarded a $112,200 grant from the Minnesota Office of Higher Education and the Minnesota Department of Health to support student parents at the women’s college. The grant will provide eligible students with funding for child care, family law, and mental health co-pay expenses to reduce financial stressors and improve academic success. Additionally, the grant will launch two new student parent offerings: bi-weekly family wellness sessions and a student parent advisory board that will allow student parents to give direct input about student parent needs at the university.
Carrie Nobles, assistant professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, received a five-year, $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the effects of certain long-lasting chemicals and heavy metals on fertility and pregnancy. In addition to raising awareness of public policy decisions made around chemicals and other pollutants, Dr. Nobles will help lead a team identifying exposure to several persistent environmental chemicals for over 1,200 couples who were trying to become pregnant.