The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded a grant to bring together three mission-driven, visionary universities focused on improving undergraduate completion rates and advancing the quality of life for neighboring schools and communities.
The three partner institutions—Johnson C. Smith University, Drexel University in Philadelphia and National Louis University in Chicago—have formed a New Urban University Coalition (NUUC) based on a shared interest in revitalizing the urban communities and Pre-K-12 public schools that surround them. Through innovation, entrepreneurship, and resource and infrastructure development, President Ronald L. Carter, President John A. Fry and President Nivine Megahed will leverage priorities, successes and lessons learned to explore what it means to be a “mission-driven, new urban university.”
The NUUC hopes to address issues of community engagement, student support systems, college completion and security on campus. The grant, courtesy of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will finance the costs associated with three conferences and idea-sharing. The grant will also support the creation and promotion of a white paper describing the key characteristics and strategies of the NUUC.
“Though we may be unlikely partners considering our geographical locations and student populations, we are all urban universities transforming higher education for underserved communities,” said Dr. Carter. “Working together, we will create meaningful systemic change both locally and nationally.”
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About Johnson C. Smith University
Founded in 1867, Johnson C. Smith University is an independent, close-knit urban university located in Charlotte, N.C. It has a growing national reputation for integrating the liberal arts with business, the sciences and technology in ways that empower tomorrow’s diverse entrepreneurial citizens and leaders. Offering 23 fields of study, including a master’s degree in social work, to more than 1,400 students from a variety of ethnic, socioeconomic and geographic backgrounds, the university’s excellent academic programs focus on servant leadership, civic engagement and global responsibility. For more information about JCSU, visit
www.jcsu.edu or follow the university on social media sites Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Pinterest.
Posted By: Reginald Culpepper
Wednesday, December 9th 2015 at 7:30PM
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