Grants and Gifts

Historically black Jackson State University received a grant from the Jimmy Smith Foundation to establish a mentoring program for youths in the Jackson Public Schools. The grant money will be used to train Jackson State students to act as mentors to the public school students.

Jimmy Smith is a native of Jackson, Mississippi. He is a graduate of Jackson State University. He played for 14 years in the National Football League.

Virginia State University, the historically black educational institution in Petersburg, has received two grants totaling over $465,000 from the Virginia Tobacco Commission. The grants will be used to study the feasibility of alternative crops to replace tobacco-growing because many small Virginia farmers have been hurt by the elimination of federal tobacco price supports.

Historically black Meharry Medical College in Nashville received a five-year, $2 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to promote AIDS prevention programs in the South.

North Carolina A&T State University, the historically black educational institution in Greensboro, received a $926,329 grant from NASA to improve science and technology education in the Guilford County, North Carolina, school system. Under the program, 40 middle and high school teachers will participate in a summer institute on the NCAT campus where they will learn innovative, interactive lesson plans. Also, graduate students at the university will serve as teacher’s aides in science classes during the school year.