Nine HBCUs to Get Software in First Round of Microsoft AwardNEW YORK
The Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund (TMSF) has announced that nine of its 45 member colleges and universities will be receiving new Microsoft software for technology upgrades, which is part of a $15 million software grant from the Microsoft Corp.
 The schools, which are public historically Black colleges and universities, are scheduled to receive the software this month. The schools will be awarded a combined total of $2.4 million in Microsoft software in the first round of schools selected in a competitive process by the Thurgood Marshall Technology Initiative Advisory Committee.
"Our partnership with Microsoft has enabled TMSF to address several critically important technology goals for public HBCUs that include upgrading their current technology, increasing efficiencies and most importantly, ensuring that they have the technology to remain equally competitive in preparing young men and women for the global marketplace," says Dwayne Ashley, president of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund.
 The first round of public HBCUs selected to receive the software are Southern University, Fayetteville State University, Harris-Stowe College, Lincoln University of Pennsylvania, Tennessee State University, Medgar Evers College, Jackson State University, Chicago State University and Prairie View A&M University.
 Additional TMSF member institutions will be selected in the next few months to receive new software through the competitive proposal process, which was designed by the Thurgood Marshall Technology Initiative Advisory Committee. The institutions submit an application and a technology plan for consideration. Based on the strength of their technology plans, the committee identifies the institutions that are best prepared technologically to effectively use the software and software solutions within a long-term technology strategy.
The TMSF supports merit-based scholarships and assistance to students attending the nation's public historically Black colleges and universities. It also provides capacity building support to its 45 member schools, which enroll 215,000 students annually. Since its inception in 1987, the fund has awarded more than $20 million in scholarships and programmatic support to more than 4,400 students.

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