FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jazmyn Burton
Spelman College
404-798-5212
jburton8@spelman.edu
ATLANTA (March 8, 2021) -- Support from the Racial Equity Community Impact Fund of Gilead Sciences Inc., will help further the work of Spelman College’s
Social Justice Program.
The $525,000 gift, which will be awarded over three years, will provide stipends for students, and fund summer research and internship opportunities with grassroots organizations working to address inequities affecting Black communities, said
Cynthia Neal Spence, Ph.D., C’78, associate professor of sociology and director of Spelman’s Social Justice Fellows Program.
“The Spelman College Social Justice Program is elated to work with the Gilead Racial Equity Impact Fund as we continue to expose our students across all disciplines to grassroots organizing for racial equity and justice,” said Dr. Spence. “This grant will accelerate the opportunities for very intentional engagement and training in grassroots organizing and scholar activism focused on creating a more equitable and just society. We look forward to building alliances with the organization and colleges and universities funded by this important initiative.”
Spelman is among several institutions to receive support from Gilead. The programs supported by Gilead focused on three areas including community advocacy and mobilization, social justice and educational innovation.
“Gilead is committed to creating equitable opportunities for the patients we serve, our employees and the communities in which we live and work,” said Daniel O’Day, chairman and chief executive officer, Gilead Sciences. “The Racial Equity Community Impact Fund will provide resources to groups that are working on the frontlines to combat social inequities directly impacting the health and wellness of the Black community. This program is one of the ways that we are delivering on our commitment to promote racial equity and social justice.”
About Spelman College
Founded in 1881, Spelman College is a leading liberal arts college widely recognized as the global leader in the education of women of African descent. Located in Atlanta, the College’s picturesque campus is home to 2,100 students. Spelman is the country's leading producer of Black women who complete Ph.D.s in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The College’s status is confirmed by U.S. News & World Report, which ranked Spelman No. 54 among all liberal arts colleges, No. 19 for undergraduate teaching, No. 4 for social mobility among liberal arts colleges, and No. 1 for the 14th year among historically Black colleges and universities. The Wall Street Journal ranked the College No. 3, nationally, in terms of student satisfaction. Recent initiatives include a designation by the Department of Defense as a Center of Excellence for Minority Women in STEM, a Gender and Sexuality Studies Institute, the first endowed queer studies chair at an HBCU, and a program to increase the number of Black women Ph.D.s in economics. New majors have been added, including documentary filmmaking and photography, and partnerships have been established with MIT’s Media Lab, the Broad Institute and the Army Research Lab for artificial intelligence and machine learning. Outstanding alumnae include Children’s Defense Fund founder
Marian Wright Edelman, Starbucks Group President and COO
Rosalind Brewer, political leader
Stacey Abrams, former Acting Surgeon General and Spelman’s first alumna president
Audrey Forbes Manley, actress and producer
Latanya Richardson Jackson, global bioinformatics geneticist
Janina Jeff and authors
Pearl Cleage and
Tayari Jones. For more information, visit
www.spelman.edu.