The NFL is putting on for the ladies as — for the first time — a women’s bracket will be available in an EA or Madden tournament. According to a press release sent to AfroTech, The National Football League’s annual EA Sports Madden NFL 23 + HBCU Tournament has returned for its third year to inspire the minds of students who have a knack for gaming and football.

The kids are alright thanks to this initiative geared toward students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to pursue careers in science, tech, engineering, or math (STEM). According to a press release, the Future of STEM Scholars Initiative (FOSSI) was launched in 2020 and has raised more than $17 million to fund scholarships for more than 350 students attending HBCUs. The program was created to support students from underrepresented communities who are taking up space in industries that don’t always have people or leaders that represent and reflect them. During its first year, FOSSI provided 151 scholarships and in the forthcoming fall, the program will add 144 more scholarships making strides toward its goal of providing 1,000 scholarships by 2025. “With an ambitious goal of funding 1000 HBCU students, FOSSI aims to have a significant and meaningful impact on the future workforce,” said Mark Vergnano, FOSSI Chairman. “These talented scholarship recipients...

We love to see a Black student soar academically! Elijah Precciely, in particular, is a young genius, who at only 14-year-old is on his way to securing his bachelor’s degree. According to WBRZ2, the Baton Rouge, LA native currently attends Southern University, where he’s a junior double majoring in physics and chemical engineering. In 2019, the science wiz — age 11 at the time — became the school’s youngest person to receive a full-ride scholarship. While already balancing two rigorous STEM majors, the full-time student and published author is also juggling his interest in other fields. “He’s able to speak up about his own differences or his own challenges,” said his mother, Pamela Precciely, according to WBRZ2. “Even when it comes to classes, he said he was taking physics and chemical engineering. But he also literally would say, ‘I want to make sure can I get a business class in there.” Although he has multiple achievements under his belt, Precciely is more focused on being a...

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is giving back bigger than ever to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). All 107 HBCUs will receive support to advance opportunities, according to the NBA’s website. The NBA is set to launch its first-ever NBA HBCU Classic, a new fellowship program for career development, $1 million in donations through the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) and the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and additional programming including events and game telecasts. “The NBA family recognizes the storied and prominent role that HBCUs have played in our society for decades,” NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer, Mark Tatum said. “We also recognize that within our commitments to increase Black representation across the league and grow the game, we can create educational, athletic and career opportunities through engagement with these institutions. Through continued collaboration with partners like TMCF and UNCF, our teams and...

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) across the country are taking this debt-free trend and running with it all the way to the bank. NBC News reports that small historically Black Clinton College is offering all of its qualifying full-time students free tuition for the upcoming 2021-2022 academic year as well as free Microsoft Surface laptops. This comes after the school announced a commitment to slash tuition fees by 50 percent and also offer every student a new tablet to complete their assignments on. “It has been taxing for each and everyone of us. At Clinton College, we have done our best to keep the school moving forward and providing a quality education, even in a virtual environment,” Clinton College President Lester McCorn declared in his video announcement. “We want to make sure you can perform with excellence without excuse.” This news follows after a tumultuous year for college students around the world who were forced into remote learning at the beginning...

Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Spelman College is joining its Atlanta counterparts — Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse College — in a partnership that will make entrepreneurship more accessible to its students. According to a press release, the all-women HBCU is one of the latest partners of Blackstone LaunchPad — a Techstars powered campus resource connecting schools to business and entrepreneurship — for a mission dedicated to giving diverse students in the Atlanta University Center Consortium more access to tools and resources to help develop their own entrepreneurial skills. Blackstone LaunchPad was developed with support from the United Negro College Fund Inc. (UNCF), and its expansion to Spelman, Morehouse and Clark Atlanta is the latest step in the Blackstone Charitable Foundation’s commitment to increase career mobility for diverse student bodies. “Spelman’s goal is to provide our students with the competitive edge they need to excel in any field,”...

Clark Atlanta University (CAU) has announced itself as a partner of a joint initiative that aims to introduce its students to careers in private equity. According to a press release, CAU is one of three Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) — others being Morehouse and Spelman College — to join the first-of-its-kind industry initiative powered by non-profit ALT Finance Corp. and leading investment firms Apollo Global Management, Inc., Ares Management Corp. and Oaktree Capital Management LP. The $90 million initiative — formally known as “AltFinance: Investing in Black Futures”™ — was launched as part of an effort to prepare HBCU students to pursue alternative career paths in private equity or alternative-credit investing. Additionally, all three investment firms have committed to donating $3 million each per year for the next 10 years to fund ALT Finance Corp., marking this as the first significant multi-firm commitment to generate more opportunities in the...

McDonald’s USA is kicking off its Black & Positively Golden Scholarship Program for the second year in a row by offering $500,000 in scholarships to incoming and current HBCU students in an effort to uplift the next generation of leaders. This generous initiative — in partnership with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) — is McDonald’s way of strengthening its relationship with HBCUs and elevating Black communities by helping them pursue their dreams of earning a higher education. “We are proud to continue our longstanding partnership with McDonald’s and work with these exceptional students,” said Dr. Harry L. Williams — President and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) — in a statement. “Amid the uncertainty and confusion of the current state of the world, students remain some of the key drivers of change. They are rising to the challenges they are facing and working hard to provide much-needed support to their families and communities. With the help of partners...