According to a news release this week from U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, the funds will support efforts to expand Internet access and technical job training programming at Norfolk State University, Virginia State University and Virginia Union University. The news release said $3,898,789 will go to Norfolk State University to improve fiber connections and launch new workforce development programs focusing on STEM, IT and cybersecurity-related careers, as well as off-site, online training for students. In addition, $2,987,765 is earmarked for Virginia Union University to improve campus Wi-Fi, add IT staff and create digital skills training for the community, while $2,799,180 will be devoted to efforts at Virginia State University to modernize its fiber-optic networks, buy laptops for freshmen and teach coding to K-12 students in the Ettrick-Petersburg area.
“High-speed Internet is no longer a nice-to-have — it’s a need-to-have, particularly at our institutions of higher ed,” the senators jointly said in a public statement. “This funding for Norfolk State, Virginia State and Virginia Union represents strong steps towards closing the digital divide, developing a tech-savvy workforce, and improving connectivity at three of Virginia’s HBCUs and in their surrounding communities.”
According to the news release, the funding is offered as part of the $268 million Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program launched in 2021 to promote digital equity and IT workforce development programming at HBCUs, which acts as part of the Biden-Harris administration’s Internet for All initiative to expand access to high-speed Internet and technology needed for telework and digital education.
The news release said the funding was originally authorized as part of last year’s federal COVID-19 relief package negotiated by Warner and supported by Kaine, and comes as HBCUs across the U.S. embark on a number of initiatives to tackle the digital divide and provide technical job training for underserved students.
