Cheyney University Receives Grant from Starbucks Corp.
(CHEYNEY, PA – January 2020) – Cheyney University is proud to announce it has received a special grant sponsored through The Starbucks Foundation. The grant will serve to enhance the progress of the HBCU’s to reinvent itself as an institution of higher learning focused on educating a 21st century workforce.
The grant, projected at $100,000 will fund a research project that will study race and access to economic opportunities in the Philadelphia region. The study will be conducted through the university’s Institute of Contemporary African American Experience (ICAAE).
“We are pleased to learn that The Starbucks Foundation has offered us the grant,” said Cheyney University President Aaron A. Walton. “We are in the midst of a major transformation. Our new corporate partnerships, intensive alumni engagement, ambitious and successful fundraising targets, and strong enrollment growth have allowed us to overcome difficult challenges over the last several years. This grant will strengthen those successful efforts and add to our reputation as a university focused on contributing to a nation of highly educated men and women.”
The Institute of Contemporary African American Experience was launched by Cheyney in 2018. One of its first priorities was to examine how unemployment rates continue to remain high in the region even as companies struggle to recruit and retain skilled employees. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has determined that even though Philadelphia’s unemployment rate has shown a decline, the overall unemployment rate is still higher than the national average. Research also shows that in Philadelphia over 53,000 citizens are categorized as the ‘working poor.’
With funding from The Starbuck’s Foundation, the ICAAE research teams hopes to determine why.
The Starbucks Foundation is a charitable organization that receives funding from the Starbucks Corporation and private donations. The Foundation’s goals are to support communities affected by disaster and advance opportunities for youth, veterans and refugees.
Cheyney University has made substantial progress over recent months toward achieving that goal. Through partnerships with Thomas Jefferson University, Epcot Crenshaw, a West Chester-based company that focuses on the environmental impact of food production and Navrogen Inc., Cheyney solidifies its long-term stability and sustainability while providing the highest educational opportunities for its students.
“We are thrilled that Cheyney University will continue to play a critical role in diversifying and strengthening our workforce, promoting equity in education, and providing a space for young students to be educated by faculty who represent them and the communities from which they come,” President Walton said.
One of the contributing factors to Cheyney’s financial recovery has been the Resurgence fundraising campaign, which received $4.4 million in gifts in FY19. Phase 2 of the campaign is launching with a cumulative goal of $10 million by June 30, 2020.
“We are continuing the mission that drives us every day: providing the highest quality and most accessible education we can to students in Pennsylvania and around the world,” Walton said.
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About Cheyney – Founded in 1837, Cheyney University of Pennsylvania is the nation’s oldest historically Black institution of higher education. Building on this legacy, the vision for Cheyney is to become the premier model for academic excellence, character development, and social responsibility among not only Historically Black Colleges and Universities, but in all of American higher education. The campus is located on 275 acres straddling Delaware and Chester Counties. Read more at www.cheyney.edu.