LITTLE ROCK — Philander Smith College received almost $3 million to improve high-speed Internet access.

On Monday, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced a $2,999,903 grant from the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program, which is operated by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce and is part of the Biden administration’s “Internet for All” initiative. “. Philander Smith College is one of 61 colleges and universities serving minorities that received these grants, totaling $175 million.

Under this latest set of grants, all funding for the Internet for All grants program was provided to 93 universities, including 43 historic black colleges and universities, 24 institutions serving Hispanics, 21 institutions serving minorities, and five tribal colleges and universities. . National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The Connecting Minority Communities pilot program is part of the administration’s Internet for All initiative, which aims to connect all Americans to affordable, reliable high-speed Internet.

According to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the goal of the project is to improve, modernize and expand the use of technology on campus with a focus on innovation to improve student learning and provide more efficient administrative functions for faculty and staff. Philander Smith College will “implement campus enterprise-grade resources, upgrade technology for both students and staff, purchase Internet access services, install and upgrade broadband facilities, improve campus wireless communications, and purchase appropriate equipment and devices for students and residents.” communities. “

The college will also “provide custom devices for freshmen, prioritizing [those] those in need, provide Wi-Fi hotspots for students, and secure community residents who participate in [Philander Smith]”Workforce Development and Community Engagement Programs,” according to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. “The proposed Wi-Fi Hotspot Loan Program will allow community residents to test the technology for their own educational purposes.”

“Access to affordable, reliable and high-speed Internet services is essential for minority students and communities to fully access education, health care and work,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a press release from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. “The Department of Commerce has invested heavily in colleges and universities that serve minorities, and I am proud to say that all Connecting Minority Communities funds have gone to help make Internet connectivity a reality for tens of thousands of students from number of minorities. -serving colleges and universities throughout the country.

Founded in 1877, Philander Smith College is one of the state’s oldest private institutions of higher education historically black. The College of Liberal Arts is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and is the only United Foundation Negro Colleges member school in the state.

According to Sericia Nelson, the college’s executive strategist, it currently has about 700 students.

In the latest U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings released last fall, Philander Smith College was ranked 41st among regional colleges in the South and 40th among historically black national colleges and universities.

According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, alumni include Dr. Joycelyn Elders, former US Surgeon General; Rev. James H. Cone, professor at United Theological Seminary in New York; Lottie Shackelford, first woman to serve as Mayor of Little Rock; former National Football League player Elijah Pitts; and former Harlem Globetrotters basketball player Hubert “Geese” Osby.

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