Ball State University (Ind.) has received $200,000 from the Edmund F. and Virginia B. Ball Foundation to create the Telecommunications Merit Endowment Scholarship. The scholarship aims to benefit incoming freshmen and transfer students who are looking to major in telecommunications.

Cheyney University (Pa.) has received a $350,000 donation from Ephren W. Taylor II, the youngest Black CEO of a publicly traded U.S. company. The donation will fund a specialized academy for high school and college-age aspiring entrepreneurs.

The Illinois Board of Higher Education has provided a $318,000 grant to a cooperative group led by Columbia College Chicago’s educational studies department. The grant is intended to help teachers adapt traditional mathematics techniques for use with bilingual students and those in ESL programs.

Columbia University (N.Y.) has received a $400 million gift from John W. Kluge, one of the largest gifts ever from an individual to a university. The gift will be used exclusively for student financial aid. Kluge, who graduated from Columbia in the 1930s, was president and chairman of Metromedia Inc.

Iowa State University has received a five-year, $2.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue a study into the effect exercise has on influenza resistance in the elderly. The study will examine and identify different mechanisms by which exercise can improve the immune response as people age.

Johnson C. Smith University (N.C.) has received a $50,000 donation from Food Lion LLC to establish a retail scholars program. The donation will provide renewable scholarships for students enrolled in the university’s retail management program. JCSU has also received a $25,000 gift from the North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation. The donation doubles the foundation’s named endowment, which provides scholarships for full-time women students at the university.