UC Berkeley\u2019s School of Education was awarded $500,000 from the 2026 UC-HBCU Initiative grant to support a seven-week summer research experience for undergraduate students from Morehouse College and Talladega College. The program will serve 18 fellows over the course of three years.<\/p>\n
The grant will be run through a partnership between HBCUs and campus\u2019s Center for Research on Expanding Educational Opportunity, or CREEO, and it will be led by campus professors Travis Bristol and Tolani Britton.<\/p>\n
According to Melika Jalili, the senior programs and operations manager at CREEO, the CREEO-HBCU program has been \u201cintentionally designed\u201d to strengthen students\u2019 pathways to graduate education. The program also centers around \u201cmentorship, access and belonging.\u201d<\/p>\n
The program will host six fellows from two HBCUs each summer and provide them with research experiences, mentorship and graduate preparation opportunities, according to Jalili. The fellows will also receive a $5,000 stipend, along with their travel and housing expenses covered.<\/p>\n
Fellows will be matched to work with Bristol and Britton on education research projects. Bristol\u2019s research looks at school-based experiences of teachers of color and professional learning communities, while Britton\u2019s research focuses on quantitative approaches to accessing success in higher education. Jalili also said fellows will have the opportunity to work on independent research through the Institute for Study of Societal Issues.<\/p>\n
The program will culminate in a summer showcase where fellows will share their experiences with community members and HBCU faculty members.<\/p>\n
The UC-HBCU Initiative is a grant program run through the UC Office of the President that aims to build collaborations between UC faculty and students and HBCU faculty.<\/p>\n
Jalili said the CREEO-HBCU program is a part of CREEO\u2019s mission to help strengthen faculty collaborations with HBCUs and facilitate access to higher education for \u201chistorically resilient and marginalized communities.\u201d She noted that the program also helps campus by helping establish a \u201cpipeline\u201d of scholars and educators from HBCUs attending UCs for graduate study.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really tried to be intentional and provide a research experience that provided mentorship and resources that supported preparation for competitive Ph.D. applications,\u201d Jalili said. \u201cBut also really ensuring that this would be a transformative experience that not only focused on the research aspect, but also creating that sense of belonging, that sense of community.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also said the summer program is not a \u201cone and done\u201d program, as CREEO hopes to foster long-term relationships with fellows, help them build connections and continually support them after completion of the summer experience.<\/p>\n
Landon Chalmers, a junior at Morehouse College majoring in education studies, was selected as one of the six inaugural fellows. In an email, Chalmers said he plans to pursue advanced degrees in education upon graduation and aspires to become a \u201cservant leader\u201d for minority groups and communities in order to \u201ceradicate social, racial and political barriers they continuously face.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also added in the email that his acceptance into the program made him feel \u201cblessed\u201d and \u201cproud,\u201d and that he is excited to start due to his \u201cinnate desire of life-long learning and commitment to the field of education.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDue to similar research and professional aspirations and them being highly respected in the field of education, I know that these are two people I need to be in connection with for a lifetime of mentorship and changemaking work,\u201d Chalmers said in the email about working with Britton and Bristol.<\/p>\n
Rokibat Adepoju, a junior at Talladega College majoring in business administration, was also selected to be an inaugural fellow.<\/p>\n
Through the program, Adepoju said she hopes to explore postgraduate pathways and further research in her field of study.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe program is an opportunity I am grateful for,\u201d Adepoju said in an email. \u201cI look forward to using it to its fullest potential and bringing everything I learn back to my college.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UC Berkeley\u2019s School of Education was awarded $500,000 from the 2026 UC-HBCU Initiative grant to support a seven-week…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":190112,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[46455,89240,89245,89246,89244,89250,89251,89249,89242,143,145,144,89252,89243,89248,89247,30647,89241,26885],"class_list":{"0":"post-190111","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oakland","8":"tag-berkeley-school-of-education","9":"tag-bse","10":"tag-center-for-research-on-expanding-educational-opportunity","11":"tag-creeo","12":"tag-creeo-hbcu","13":"tag-institute-for-study-of-societal-issues","14":"tag-landon-chalmers","15":"tag-melika-jalili","16":"tag-morehouse-college","17":"tag-oakland","18":"tag-oakland-headlines","19":"tag-oakland-news","20":"tag-rokibat-adepoju","21":"tag-talladega-college","22":"tag-tolani-britton","23":"tag-travis-bristol","24":"tag-uc-office-of-the-president","25":"tag-uc-hbcu-initiative-grant","26":"tag-ucop"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}