The City University of New York (CUNY) has received a $10 million gift from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to address challenges brought on by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and drive efforts to advance social and racial justice across 25 campuses. It is the largest gift the Mellon Foundation has given to CUNY in its 45 years of supporting the university.
“This extraordinarily generous gift will help drive change across our 25 campuses in ways that could not be more relevant at
this most challenging moment in time,” said CUNY Chancellor Dr. Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. “The foundation’s donation to the Chancellor’s Emergency Relief Grant Program directly addresses the economic crisis set off by COVID-19. Other parts of the grant will help greater numbers of our students and faculty shape the conversations about race relations and racial inequity demanded by ongoing national demands.”
Of the $10 million, CUNY will dedicate $3 million to further develop its programs in Black, race and ethnic studies; $2.5 million to the Chancellor’s Emergency Relief Fund to help students with financial challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic; $2 million to expand CUNY’s Cultural Corps, a paid internship program with New York City arts and cultural organizations; $2 million to establish the Transformative Learning in the Humanities (TLH) program, which will help humanities faculty make their classes more participatory; and $500,000 to bolster the number of humanities course offerings.
