Warner and Kaine Announce Nearly $5 Million in Funding for Hampton University

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine announced $4,962,986 for Hampton University to establish an Interdisciplinary Climate Science Degree Program. The program will be embedded in a National Center for Climate Modeling Research. The funding was awarded by the U.S. Department of Education.

“Our nation’s HBCUs make tremendous contributions to our communities, and HBCU graduates are often leading the way, working to find solutions to important global challenges,” said the senators. “We’re thrilled Hampton University is receiving federal funding to develop a climate science program and look forward to seeing the program’s success in the years to come.”

The program will upgrade current research facilities at Hampton University and aim to increase the number of Black American doctoral recipients in climate science and increase the number of climate science research centers at HBCUs. 11% of all HCBUs are located in coastal communities that are impacted by rising sea levels and flooding, and these communities are also overwhelmingly Black and brown. However, only three HBCUs have research centers dedicated to climate resilience.

Warner and Kaine are longtime advocates of HBCUs. The senators successfully pushed to get the FUTURE Act signed into law to restore $255 million in federal funding for these institutions. Kaine successfully pushed to pass legislation he cosponsored called the HBCU Propelling Agency Relationships Towards a New Era of Results for Students (PARTNERS) Act, which strengthens partnerships between federal agencies and HBCUs. Warner successfully pushed to promote defense research at HBCUs in a defense authorization bill, which included a version of his Building Equitable Access to Contribute to Our National Security (BEACON) Act.

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