Students, alumni votes matter: Alcorn wins $10,000 grant from Home Depot
Alcorn State, Miss. (May 4, 2013) – Home Depot announced that Alcorn State University is the only HBCU winner in Mississippi of one of its 12 Tier II $10,000 grants.
President M. Christopher Brown II shared the great news with the campus community. “Alcorn greatly appreciates the determination and dedication of its students, alumni, employees, and friends who voted daily per device and via social media to secure this grant for our campus. With the assistance of Home Depot, Alcorn will be able to continue its sustainability and healthy living initiatives.”
The Home Depot Retool Your School Grant Program awards grants to Historically Black Colleges and Universities to help restore and improve their campuses. The program awards one $50,000 Tier I grant, one $25,000 Campus Pride grant and 12 Tier II grant awards, each in the amount of $10,000.
Alcorn submitted in all three categories and all of its projects emphasized plans for renewal and demonstrated sustainable, eco-friendly principles, said Dr. Derek Greenfield, director of the Office of Educational Equity and Inclusion. “Once again, the Alcorn community came together and won. We submitted a dynamic proposal to Home Depot.”
Alcorn faced stiff competition from 67 other HBCUs. The winning project will support several on-going initiatives at Alcorn to promote healthy living and sustainability. The University will utilize funding to install solar lighting fixtures around its outdoor track so that members of our campus community can access the facility to exercise at other times convenient for their schedules. The project both advances Alcorn’s efforts to celebrate wellness as well as ensures a safer environment for participants through an eco-friendly approach that promotes sustainability.
“Our students were engaged and recommended the winning project,” says Clara Ross Stamps, vice president for media relations as she explained student involvement from day one until the final votes were casted on April 15, 2013. “It’s a long competition that requires daily communications to all of our stakeholders. Students and alumni held tweet-off competitions while actively engaging President Brown on Twitter.”
Alcorn will execute the project through the efforts of 20 volunteers who will prepare the ground for placement of lights and assist members of Facilities Management in the actual installation. During the process, faculty members from the Health, Physical Education and Recreation Department will provide a wellness campaign and host walking events to encourage greater numbers of individuals to incorporate exercise into their lives.
Alcorn plans to truly make a positive difference on our campus. For more information or to volunteer, call (601) 877-6130.
About The Home Depot
The Home Depot is the world’s largest home improvement specialty retailer, with 2,256 retail stores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico. In fiscal 2011, The Home Depot had sales of $70.4 billion and earnings of $3.9 billion. The Company employs more than 300,000 associates. The Home Depot’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: HD) and is included in the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor’s 500 index.
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Alcorn State University is a premier comprehensive land-grant university that develops diverse students into globally-competitive leaders, and applies scientific research through collaborative partnerships that benefit the surrounding communities, state, nation, and world.
