Agnes Scott College Receives $750,000 Grant from Mellon Foundation
July 12, 2022 (Decatur, Georgia) – Agnes Scott College is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a $750,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation. This grant will fund the “Acknowledging our Past: Acting Now for A Transformed Future” project. Activities for this project will commence in July 2022 and conclude in the summer of 2025.
“This project is a two-part initiative, designed to elevate the lives of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) artisans and workers who built Agnes Scott’s campus and the city of Decatur,” said Dr. Yves-Rose Porcena, project lead and vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion at the college. “The second part of the initiative involves launching strategies to ensure that the contributions of the aforementioned individuals are not erased.”
Implementation strategies will include research and documentation of the college’s and Decatur’s racial histories, educational programming and inclusive leadership training. This exploration project will also include opportunities for Agnes Scott’s students and faculty to work with local organizations and community partners. This project will also provide opportunities to partner with the City of Decatur, which celebrates the 200th anniversary of its founding in October 2023.
“We are thrilled to receive this grant from the Mellon Foundation,” said Agnes Scott President Leocadia I. Zak. “This funding will further prepare our students to think deeply, engage the social challenges of their times and ultimately claim their places in a more inclusive and equitable workplace, community and world.”
Agnes Scott College has received seven grants from the Mellon Foundation since 1970. Click here to find a listing of those previous awards.
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About Agnes Scott College
Agnes Scott College educates women to think deeply, live honorably, and engage in the intellectual and social challenges of their times. Ranked No. 1 Most Innovative School, No. 1 First-Year Experiences and No. 2 Best Undergraduate Teaching by U.S. News & World Report in its 2022 Best Colleges edition, Agnes Scott is a premier institution known for SUMMIT, its signature approach to a liberal arts education focusing on global learning and leadership development. Learn more at agnesscott.edu.
About the Mellon Foundation
The Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. Learn more at mellon.org.
