Black communities have long been victims of environmental racism, from the contaminated water crises in Flint, Newark and Jackson, to the noxious fumes from truck depots and factories disproportionately located in our neighborhoods, leading to high asthma rates. So the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new partnership with HBCUs is being touted as an important one, according to Insight into Diversity magazine.
EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan, the first Black man to lead the agency, said in a press release, “HBCUs produce some of the best and brightest minds our country has to offer,” he continued. “At every level of this administration, including Vice President Kamala Harris, HBCU graduates are delivering real results, and we’re more committed than ever to partnering and empowering HBCU students and leaders across the country. At EPA, HBCUs have a permanent seat at our table, so that these institutions remain at the forefront of the environmental movement.”
The initiative, unveiled earlier this month at the United Negro College Fund’s UNITE 2024 Summit, includes a $2.5 million grant to support student and faculty collaboration with the EPA. The grant will fund environmental education and workforce development which will include training, internships and fellowships for young people interested in careers working to reduce air pollutants and greenhouse gases.
Crucially, the grant funding will also cover community projects that address environmental justice, water quality, climate change and land health on campus and beyond. These projects can include anything from building new public green spaces to making electric vehicles available for car-sharing programs according to the EPA’s website.
To facilitate these efforts, the partnership will create a new position, the HBCU Outreach and Engagement Liaison, who will serve as an intermediary between HBCUs and the EPA, making it easier for schools to access agency resources, including funding opportunities and ensuring effective coordination between all entities.
With a focus on diversity, the EPA will also establish its first HBCU-MSI (Minority-Serving Institution) Federal Advisory Council, which will provide recommendations on increasing HBCU-MSI participation in federal programs and ensuring the EPA’s workforce reflects the communities it serves. The council will draw experts from local governments, community organizations, academia, and industry; council selections will be completed by fall 2024.
This partnership was partially borne out of Regan’s 2021 “Journey to Justice” Tour during his first year as EPA head, where he visited Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas to highlight longstanding environmental justice issues. Leaders from Jackson State University, Tougaloo College, and Texas Southern University emphasized the need for increased federal funding to address environmental challenges in underserved communities and for greater opportunities for students to gain environmental field experience.
In an interview with the AP at the time, Regan said, environmental justice “is really personal for me, as well as professional.’’
“As I look at many of the folks in these communities, they look just like me. They look just like my son, and it’s really tough to see them question the quality of their drinking water.’’
He continued, “The message here to these communities is, we have to do better and we will do better.”
A Notice of Funding Opportunity for the grant is expected to be released in early October, more information can be found on the EPA-HBCU engagement page.