Gannon University has received a grant of $531,600 from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) through the Science Education Program’s Inclusive Excellence Initiative. The grant will support the development of a more inclusive STEM curriculum, with the goal of ensuring that all students feel they belong and can be successful in STEM fields.
“DEI initiatives connect deeply to the University Mission,” says Lisa J. Nogaj, Ph.D., associate dean for the school of sciences, and professor of chemistry and biochemistry. “In upholding the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, Gannon is guided by a responsibility to seek truth, beauty, and goodness, and these ideals tie directly to our engagement in respecting, understanding, and celebrating all people.”
Gannon University is one of 104 institutions selected to receive an IE3 award. HHMI has assigned each of these institutions to one of seven learning community clusters (LCCs), with approximately 15 institutions belonging to each LCC. The grant will enable Gannon to partner on a six-year effort with other schools in Learning Community Cluster 1. The cluster aims to shift institutions from deficit- to achievement-oriented thinking and practices through five overlapping areas of activity: continuing education, inclusive curricula, student empowerment, inclusive collaboration, and broader approaches to institutional transformation.
Other institutions in Learning Community Cluster 1 include California State University–Stanislaus, Dalton State College, Fordham University, Franklin & Marshall College, Furman University, Haverford College, Illinois State University, Middlebury College, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, SUNY Empire State College, Trinity University, Universidad Ana G. Mendez-Cupey Campus, University of California-Riverside and University of California-Santa Cruz.
“It has been a privilege to form so many collaborations and friendships with teammates at our partner institutions as our LCC has coalesced,” Nogaj adds. “We have been working together virtually for two years and are eager to meet one another in person at our HHMI and LCC gatherings this summer.”
