HBCUs receive $15 million in donation from the Gates Foundation for coronavirus testing

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is donating $15 million to several HBCUs participating in the foundation’s The Just Project.

This project is a coronavirus testing program created to support safe reopening of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The program will include 29 of the 100 HBCUs across the country are paving the way for their campuses and communities to have easy access to coronavirus testing.

“Safely reopening campuses and keeping them open requires a number of things, but it absolutely requires access to rapid, effective COVID-19 testing,” said Allan Golston, president of the United States Program at the foundation, during a press conference on Tuesday.

The foundation will select 10 HBCUs to function as coronavirus testing hubs, which will be well-equipped with the necessary analytical lab expertise, and also partner with other campuses to quickly deploy and process tests, according to Toni Hoover the Gates Foundation Director of Strategy. “These grants will allow these HBCUs to test all of their students, faculty, and staff as often as their protocols will require,” said Hoover.

“This will give us a different level of capacity,” says Wayne A.I. Fredrick, president of Howard University. “The intent was really to have all the HBCUs participate, and if you have 10 hubs… I think we do have the capacity to cover just about everyone.”

Much concern has been given to coronavirus testing in Black communities across the nation, because Blacks are more likely to get infected with the virus due to low access to healthcare and other racial biases. Black Americans, due to disparities in healthcare, systemic racism, and economic inequality are at more risk, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The first HBCUs to become testing hubs will include Hampton University, Florida A&M University, Xavier University of Louisiana, Morehouse School of Medicine, Howard University, and Meharry Medical College.

“The colleges and universities will continue to need access to diagnostic testing and test process until vaccines and therapeutics are universally available and accessible,” said Hoover. Adding that, the support will also enable the HBCUs “to strengthen their lab capabilities and research capacities.”

HBCUs and their immediate communities are among the hardest hit by the coronavirus. They are hopeful that the support from the Gates Foundation will help settle the issue of coronavirus testing in the schools and communities they serve.

“All of us are located in… communities where these disparities are occurring and where the impact, I believe, will be tremendously great,” said Larry Robinson, president of Florida A&M University.

In an attempt to provide solutions to disproportionately high impacts of the pandemic in Black communities, the White House announced September that it would ship more than 500,000 BinaxNOW rapid coronavirus tests to HBCUs. Some schools have received and are already using their tests, including Howard University.

“Many of our colleges just don’t have the budget,” said Patrick Johnson, senior vice-president for university advancement at Meharry Medical College. “It’s very expensive to test and tp test frequently.”