Investing in Morgan
Google Awards $5 Million to Grow Morgan’s ‘STEM Equity’ Tech giant Google awarded an unrestricted grant of $5 million to Morgan State University this past June. The one-time grant provides Morgan with financial support for scholarships, technological infrastructure support, career readiness and curriculum development. The award came as part of Google’s $50-million commitment to build tech equity for HBCUs and support a career pipeline for diverse talent in STEM fields. Google’s investment was built on the company’s Pathways to Tech initiative, announced this year, and is designed to build equity for HBCU computing education, help job seekers find tech roles and ensure that Black employees have growth opportunities and feel included at work.
Apple Selects Morgan for $1.25-Million ‘Innovation Grant’ The good news continued in June, as Morgan announced its selection as one of four recipients of a new $1.25-million Apple Innovation Grant, designed to support schools of engineering at HBCUs in developing their silicon and hardware technologies curriculum in partnership with Apple’s experts. The three-year grant came as a component of Apple’s Racial Equity and Justice Initiative. Morgan’s Innovation Grant includes funding and other support from Apple for lab space, guest lectures, scholarships and fellowships, faculty training, curriculum support and more. The grant is part of Apple’s broader New Silicon Initiative and is designed to inspire and prepare students for careers in hardware engineering, computer architecture and silicon chip design.
NSF Supports Morgan Cybersecurity Students With $3.2 Million A $3.2-million grant from the National Science Foundation to Morgan’s Cybersecurity Assurance and Policy (CAP) Center in July boosted the University’s critical role in preparing skilled professionals to fight the growing problem of cyberattacks and cybercrime. The grant will enable Morgan to implement the NSF’s CyberCorps Scholarship for Service (SFS) program, providing 24 cybersecurity scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students at MSU. The five-year award recognizes Morgan’s CAP Center as a leader in cyber defense education and the study of secure embedded systems. Kevin T. Kornegay, Ph.D., the Director of the CAP Center and a Professor at MSU, serves as Principal Investigator of the program, which Morgan has dubbed the Secure Embedded Systems Scholarship (SES2).
Varsity ‘M’ Club Selects 2021 Hall of Famers Morgan State University has announced its 2021 induction class of the Varsity “M” Club Athletic Hall of Fame! Congratulations to this year’s class: Troy McIntosh (1992–95), a two-time MEAC MVP sprinter in track and field; Tiffany Pickens Byrd (1995–98), an All-MEAC middle blocker and 1997 MEAC Champion in volleyball; Greg Veal (1979–84) an NCAA Division II National Champion in wrestling; Andre Wickham (1976–79), a two-time MEAC Champion for the Bears in football; Mikal Abdul Saboor (1978–81), a 1979 MEAC Champion and Sheridan Black College All-American in 1981; Marvin Hicks (1975–79), who was a three-time All-MEAC lineman and 1979 MEAC Champion; Kim Whitehead-Barksdale (1981–83), an NCAA Division I Big 8 Conference Champion and All-American; Corin (“Tiny”) Adams (2006–10), Morgan’s all-time leader in scoring, assists and steals; Arthur Cook (1976–79), a twotime MEAC Champion with the Bears football team; and Antoine Maurice Peck (1992–96), an NCAA Division AllAmerican in track and field. Team of Distinction Award
honorees this year are the 1997 Volleyball Team, which posted a 25-10 record, won the MEAC Championship and became the first HBCU team to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament; and the Wrestling Team, which Head Coach James Phillips led to 13 MEAC Championships (1975–94). The group will be enshrined during an awards banquet on Oct. 21, 2021, at the Hyatt Regency Inner Harbor Baltimore. Banquet tickets are $100 per person and can be purchased online at www.eventbrite. com/e/164228821827 or by contacting the Hall of Fame Program Chair Leonard Braxton by email at lbraxton@ cox.net. The Hall of Fame class will also be recognized at Morgan’s Homecoming game on Saturday, Oct. 23. The Varsity “M” Club provides financial support to ensure a quality athletic experience for MSU scholarathletes and the entire Morgan community. The club serves as the representative body of more than 3,000 former scholar-athletes.
Morgan Athletics Celebrates a Wealth of Positive News Tyrone Wheatley
Damishah Charles A year and a half into a global pandemic that preempted fall sports at Morgan and the other Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) schools in 2020, and gave him a personal bout with COVID-19, Morgan’s Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, Edward Scott, Ph.D., had an abundance of good news to report. At the top of the list was the academic achievement of Morgan’s scholar-athletes, who logged an overall GPA of 3.41 for the 2020–2021 school year and who raised the graduation rate of the Athletics Department to 70%, above the rate for the University as a whole. The talented, hardworking women of Morgan’s softball team brought the University its first-ever championship in the sport, in May. And at the end of August, when we talked with Dr. Scott, star pitcher Stephanie Rundlett was in the running for NCAA Woman of the Year honors in the MEAC. In another first for MSU Athletics, Nihit Rawal, a member of Morgan’s tennis team, was appointed to the
Stephanie Rundlett NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, representing the MEAC and serving as a voice for scholar-athletes across the country. Rawal and Bears softballer Damishah Charles both won MEAC-Nike postgraduate scholarships, which are awarded to only one male and one female athlete each year. Troy Baxter Jr., former star forward with the Bears men’s basketball team, was named MEAC Male Student-Athlete of the Year for 2021 and also played in the summer league with the Chicago Bulls of the NBA. And, aptly, with fall and Homecoming fast approaching, Dr. Scott was “super excited” about football. The Bears had a full, 11-game schedule ahead of them, with seven games slated for broadcast on ESPN outlets. The season opened in Hughes Stadium on Sept. 4 with “the Battle for Greater Baltimore,” against Towson State. The Homecoming contest in Hughes Stadium on Oct. 23 will match the Bears with the North Carolina Central University Eagles. Bears Head Football Coach Tyrone Wheatley, now in
his third year, is “doing great, given all the things he’s had to handle,” Dr. Scott said. “Dealing with COVID last year, I learned a lot about Coach Wheatley and his values, which I’ve been extremely impressed by…. Also, “he’s been able to recruit some of the higher-ranked players that Morgan has ever had,” Dr. Scott added. “And he’s established a culture of accountability in academics. The football program is well over a 3.1 GPA now.” Dr. Scott is set to complete his fifth year as Morgan’s Athletic Director this October. “I think the easy way to reflect is on progress,” he said, when asked to comment on his tenure. “We’ve made a lot of progress in a short period of time. What makes me most satisfied is that our former student-athletes come back and the way they talk about their experience. It’s so positive that I know we’ve had such an impact on their lives. “As far as the future, I’m expecting big things,” he added. “I expect to continue to win championships.”
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