Georgia State University has received a transformational $5 million gift from Snap Inc. to support the preparation of educators to integrate computer science across the curriculum and continue to diversify the computer science education field.
This gift will create a center, housed in Georgia State’s College of Education & Human Development, focused on areas that have the greatest potential for growth, including in elementary education and for students from groups that are underrepresented in computing.
The Georgia State University Foundation has provided $2 million in matching funds, demonstrating the university’s commitment to providing computer science education for all.
“This generous gift aligns with Georgia State’s mission – to continue to level the playing field by advocating for diversity, equity and inclusion while contributing to student college to career transitions in all fields,” said Georgia State President M. Brian Blake. “We are excited to partner with Snap on this important initiative.”
Snap announced the gift ahead of the first-ever virtual DEI Innovation Summit. Four institutions were gift recipients:
- Georgia State University and California State University Dominguez Hills will each receive $5 million from Snap Inc.
- University of Florida and University of Texas at El Paso will each receive $5 million from philanthropist Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel Capital, and the Hopper Dean Foundation, respectively.
Snap Inc. is proud to be part of a new coalition of 30 other tech companies, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) experts, advocates and researchers in launching the Action to Catalyze Tech Report, a new blueprint that provides concrete actions that businesses of all sizes can take to try to meaningfully change their own DEI outcomes — and work together to create a collective paradigm shift across the industry.
Georgia State is the No. 1 public or nonprofit university in Georgia to confer undergraduate and graduate degrees to African American, Asian and Latinx students, and awards more degrees to African American students nationally than any other public institution.
Paul Alberto, dean of the College of Education & Human Development, said this gift will assist Georgia State in continuing to address the barriers that teachers face in offering computing education.
“The center will significantly increase our ability to deepen our preparation of K-12 teachers and teacher educators, enabling teachers to integrate computing across disciplines,” Alberto said. “It will give additional recognition to our successes, increase our capacity to deepen our outcomes, and impact students and their families.”