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Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has announced the rebrand of an initiative to employ youth. According to a press release, the city’s youth employment initiative, One Summer Chicago, is being rebranded as Chicago Youth Works. Mayor Johnson has worked to grow funding and partnership opportunities for the employment initiative. In 2025, his efforts led to summer jobs for 31,119 young people who earned a collective wage of more than $30.9 million, per the release. The rebranded Chicago Youth Works is partnering with the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) . The new program name comes from input from the young people it serves, and is launching with a new tagline: “Get Paid. Get Skilled. Get Ahead.” Chicago Youth Works will employ youth aged 14 to 24, with support from local businesses, nonprofits, and city agencies, notes the release. These opportunities may include summer positions, year-round roles, or paid career exploration programming for 14- and 15-year-olds....
Funding is being raised to keep the doors open at Barber-Scotia College in Concord, NC. The Historically Black women’s college lost its accreditation in 2004, per its website, but under the leadership of its president, Chris V. Rey, J.D., it is working to regain it. In a Facebook video from January, Rey acknowledged that the school had recently had its hardest day since he took over as president in 2023, according to his LinkedIn. The school has struggled to raise funds to continue operating but has acknowledged support from alumni and individuals who align with its mission, he noted. “It’s not easy raising money for an unaccredited institution … We have completely run outta money as an institution,” Rey said in the Facebook video. “Many of our students, who have decided to come and be on this journey with us, many of ’em, they have struggled to pay ’cause they don’t have access to federal financial aid yet. And it has been truly a challenge for them. Some of our major donors that...
Morehouse College will help build a supercomputer, projected to be one of the most powerful in the Southeast, according to a news release. The Morehouse Center for Broadening Participation in Computing has received a grant from the National Science Foundation to start building supercomputer Horizon, which falls under the Leadership-Class Computing Facility (LCCF) project. Morehouse is working with an initial $5 million portion of the grant, and more funds will be disbursed to support ongoing operations. The project combines “cutting-edge technologies with advanced infrastructure to redefine what is possible in scientific computing,” according to information shared by The University of Texas at Austin, which is leading the $457 million project. Morehouse, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), will build and house Horizon and provide additional support through summer programs for middle and high school boys, a postbaccalaureate program in AI, and faculty accelerators in...
Morris Brown College has been awarded new funding to support its hospitality management program. The Historically Black College and University (HBCU) is currently led by Dr. Kevin James, who, in a conversation with Atlanta News First, joked that he had recently taken a five-day vacation. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, in January the college’s Board of Trustees removed James from his post as president “without providing specific cause or substantive explanation,” he said in a post on LinkedIn. He was reinstated on Jan. 20, 2026, and the board acknowledged that it had not complied with the procedural and contractual requirements outlined in James’ employment agreement, which has him under contract until 2029, according to his post. “We are back. We are pushing forward, and we’re very, very excited,” James told Atlanta News First. He aims for the college to become a top institution and describes the school’s era as a “hard reset,” according to the outlet. The college was recently...
Congresswoman Valerie P. Foushee has introduced legislation to ensure that Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) expand their stake in AI. According to a press release, Foushee, who is also the co-chair of the House Democratic Commission on AI and the Innovation Economy, introduced the HBCU Artificial Intelligence Research Leadership Act. The legislation would ensure that HBCUs can launch federally funded AI Research Institutes. It would require the National Science Foundation’s National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes program to reserve 10% of research institutes for HBCUs. These research institutes would be operated by an HBCU or would be established in partnership with an HBCU. “This legislation expands access to cutting-edge research, strengthens the AI workforce pipeline, and creates high-quality jobs and economic opportunity in communities that have too often been left out of major federal investments. By ensuring HBCUs are full partners in our...
Several colleges and universities are withdrawing from a project designed to promote diversity among business faculty members. Founded in 1994, the PhD Project has helped more than 1,500 members earn doctoral degrees, with the goal of them teaching business in classrooms, according to its website. The project has also focused on creating gateways to scholarships and other means to help members cover the cost of pursuing a Ph.D. Many individuals have gone on to leadership roles in higher education as well. CBS News reported that the project helped support people from historically underrepresented groups across the nation. In fact Black, Hispanic, and Native Americans candidates rose from 294 at its inception to 1,700 in 2023, according to information from the project’s annual report . However, the project has been targeted under the Trump administration by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), which said it violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of...
The Arthur M. Blank Spelman Innovation Lab has produced another technological advancement. The makerspace at Spelman College was created for creative inquiry, unconventional research, experimental pedagogy, and exploratory play, according to its website. It energizes students in art, science, technology, and engineering and provides tools such as 3D printers, laser cutters, 4-axis CNC routers, and 3D scanners. PlantGPT Now, several students and alumni have used the lab to develop a project that improves plant health, called PlantGPT. Assistant Director and Lab Manager Eric Thompson and class of 2024 biology graduate Grace Burch started the project in August 2023. Others involved in the PlantGPT project include game development major Devyn Washington and computer science majors Joy Rutledge and Temple Dees. Now, they’ve built an AI-powered conversational assistant focused on plant health, intended for current and prospective plant and crop owners. The project is testing on a...
A new partnership has formed to expand the esports pipeline to HBCUs. National HBCU Esports Community According to a press release, PlayVS, a scholastic and collegiate gaming platform, and Urban One, a media company with 80 million monthly unique users, have formed a three-year partnership to launch an esports community for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Gamers will benefit from organized competition, media amplification, and a gateway to collegiate esports opportunities. “Black gamers are among the most influential audiences in the industry, yet Black professionals represent only about 5% of its workforce,” Tiffany Nasralla, Urban One’s chief revenue, said in a press release. “The gap isn’t about talent. It’s about access. Through our partnership with PlayVS, we’re using our platform to build a national stage for HBCU students, expanding visibility, structured competition, and real pathways into the industries they’ve long helped define. This is about turning...
The Education Department will have to reconsider discontinued mental health grants. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the Education Department cut more than 200 mental health grants totaling $1 billion in 2025 that supported recipients’ diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts in hiring, recruitment, training, and certification practices. The department said in a news release the discontinued grants favored “ the racial characteristics of providers and divisive ideologies, instead of focusing on competent provision of proven mental health interventions for students.” The funding had been funneled through the department’s Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration Grant Program (MHSP) and its School-Based Mental Health Services Grant Program (SBMH), per the news release. Several districts sued the Education Department over the discontinuation of the grants. This was reflected in the “Washington v. U.S. Department of Education” case, which addressed mental health funding...
Myles Dantzler is making the city of Detroit proud. ClickOnDetroit reported that the parents of the eight-year-old noticed he was showing signs of excellence early on when he began asking questions and learning at a rate that other children his age typically do not. His mother, Jamilla Johnson, particularly noticed her son was learning at an accelerated rate when he began reading words she could not read and correcting her while she read books to him. Dantzler currently attends Bates Academy in Detroit, and when he is not at school, you may catch him watching YouTube videos on topics such as dinosaurs, geography, and more. Dantzler is now a member of Mensa, the world’s largest high-IQ society, reports ClickOnDetroit. Dantzler’s reading teacher, Elinka Lewandowski, described the feat as “well earned and well deserved,” per the outlet. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, to join Mensa, members must take an intelligence test and score in the top 2% of the general population. “I got one...
Comedian Katt Williams is partnering with Miles College to ensure students are ahead of the learning curve in technology. Complex reported that Williams and the Alabama historically Black college and university (HBCU) are launching a scholarship to support learners in AI and augmented reality (AR). The scholarship fund will provide students with opportunities to learn virtual production, CGI, and immersive storytelling. “There are a lot of jobs right now that in five years won’t be in existence because of AR and AI, and we want to make sure that our students are equipped with the tools they need to operate in that world,” Miles College President Bobbie Knights said, according to WVTM 13. In addition, Williams is opening a production hub in Anniston, AL, at the closed U.S. Army training base, Fort McClellan. The hub — launched under his production company Kemet Movie Works — takes inspiration from the region’s history, including the Chitlin’ Circuit, which supported the careers of...
There is another financial hurdle ahead for student loan borrowers whose debt was forgiven . CNBC reported that a portion of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 expired. The bill stated that students whose loans were forgiven between Dec. 31, 2020, and Jan. 1, 2026, would not be taxed at the federal level, according to a news release. As a result of the bill expiring in December, millions of student loan borrowers who had their loans forgiven by the U.S. Department of Education through income-driven repayment (IDR) plans will be impacted. These plans consider income and family size, with some payments as low as $0 a month, according to Federal Student Aid. After 20 to 25 years of payments, the remaining balance may be forgiven, notes the agency. Higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz estimated to CNBC that, on average, the loan balance for those enrolled in an IDR plan was nearly $57,000. Those in the 22% tax bracket would face a financial hurdle of more than $12,000 in taxes if...
A federal judge has dismissed the Trump administration’s anti- DEI push in education. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, the administration sent a letter to public schools in February 2025 that discouraged race from being considered in their admissions practices, hiring processes, scholarship programs, and “all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life.” This decision was informed by the administration’s belief that DEI practices discriminate against white and Asian American students. Schools that continued to uphold DEI efforts were asked to verify compliance by signing a certification or risk losing federal funding. The administration’s action was challenged by several institutions across the U.S. for allegedly violating the First Amendment, including a group of New Hampshire school districts, state and national branches of the National Education Association, a teachers’ union, and the American Civil Liberties Union, according to the New Hampshire Bulletin. In March 2025,...
Marquette University allegedly provided preferential treatment to wealthier families. A report from think tank New America examined more than 20 years of financial aid data at more than 300 selective colleges and universities. Its report centers 41 universities, 23 of which are private universities and 18 are public flagship and research institutions. Its findings were that students from low- and lower-middle-income students were encouraged to take out Parent PLUS loan debt that would be challenging to pay back. “We went from a system where the point of student aid was to help students who could not afford to go to college, to one in which they’re trying to figure out exactly what price to bring you in,” author Stephen Burd said, according to WPR. “Almost like an airline does when they’re selling their seats.” The 41 universities offered $2.4 billion in financial aid to students who weren’t in financial need in 2023, according to New America. Additionally, $2 out of every $5 spent...
Dr. Luke Wood is committed to students’ success. He was born in a prison, became a ward of the court, and entered the foster care system with his twin brother. After being adopted into a larger foster home, he was raised in a small town in Northern California with few Black children in school, he shared in an interview with AFROTECH™. “Definitely had good experiences, but also had some real challenging experiences growing up in a very non-diverse environment. It’s a beautiful town, beautiful people, but just like any other place in the country, struggles with racism,” Dr. Wood told AFROTECH™. In the fifth grade, he recalled being perceived negatively for being a Black male foster kid. A teacher suspended him 42 times while his twin brother was suspended 24 times. The repeated discipline left him disillusioned with school, he shared. That changed the following school year. An educator named Mr. Guggenheimer poured into his interests of writing short stories, he told AFROTECH™. Mr....