Atlanta, Ga. — U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is strengthening national security job training opportunities for HBCU students at Spelman College.
Today, Sen. Ossoff, a member of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, announced he is delivering $2.5 million in Federal resources to help establish a new Strategic and Security Studies Center at Spelman College, which will be affiliated with Spelman’s Center of Excellence for Black Women in STEM.
The five-year grant, delivered through the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), will help develop the next generation of intelligence leaders by funding student scholarships, study abroad opportunities, and language learning programs at the new Spelman Strategic and Security Studies Center.
“I will never stop working on behalf of Georgia’s HBCUs. I’m delivering these Federal funds to help establish a new Strategic and Security Studies Center at Spelman College and support the growth of America’s HBCUs in research, development, and innovation vital to American national security,” Sen. Ossoff said. “I thank Spelman College Interim President Rosalind “Roz” Brewer, Dr. Tinaz Pavri, and Spelman College faculty, staff, and students for their leadership and their work to secure this funding and to help students succeed.”
“This grant enables Spelman to prepare a cohort of students to take their rightful places in conversations that will shape, define and critique international strategic affairs and national security issues and help build a better world,” said Dr. Tinaz Pavri, chair of Spelman’s Division of Social Sciences and Education, political science professor and principal investigator for the grant. “It also allows our students to contribute their talents, values, beliefs and lived experiences to national and international debates on these issues.”
Sen. Ossoff continues working to strengthen opportunities for students at Georgia’s HBCUs to develop careers in national security and strengthen diversity in the field.
In May, Sen. Ossoff delivered Federal funding to Clark Atlanta University to strengthen the Cybersecurity Leadership Center and increase the number of career opportunities in the cybersecurity field, boosting opportunities for HBCU students.
Last year, Sen. Ossoff also delivered $749,896 through the Economic Development Administration (EDA) to Spelman College as part of the Center for Black Entrepreneurship Launch Incubator for Traction (CBE LIFT) project.
In 2022, Sen. Ossoff and Rep. Hank Johnson (GA-04)’s bipartisan Cybersecurity Opportunity Actbecame law, which created the “Dr. David Satcher Cybersecurity Education Grant Program,” to expand cybersecurity training programs at HBCUs, tribal institutions, minority-serving institutions, and other colleges and universities that serve a high proportion of Pell Grant recipients.
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