The University of Rochester in New York State has announced a $3 million gift from the Mellon Foundation in support of Black Studies faculty recruitment.

The gift will enable the university to add three tenure-track faculty to its Department of Black Studies as part of its efforts to reach 10-12 faculty members by 2025-26, which will enable the department to focus on community engagement through symposia, conferences, and speaker series. Funding to the Department of Black Studies at Rochester comes one year after the department’s creation as one of the few national centers for multidisciplinary research and engagement with Black life and culture.

“We at the University of Rochester are committed to fostering more just and equitable societies both in our local community and worldwide,” said Nicole Sampson, the Robert L. and Mary L. Sproull Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences. “This new investment will allow us to build a consequential department, making Rochester a leader in working to understand the global African diaspora.”

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