Trinity DARE Resource Requirements and Funding Opportunities

Fulfilling the promise of Trinity DARE requires significant resources for student scholarships, faculty development and research, and programmatic initiatives. Trinity seeks funding to support these priorities:

Student Support:

Trinity DARE Scholars Program:  $1,000,000 annually

A $1 million annual grant will provide 100 scholarships of $10,000 each to reduce or eliminate loans in student financial aid packages.  Reducing student debt burden is a major priority of Trinity DARE because Black women, the majority of Trinity’s students, bear the highest student debt burden in the nation.  Student loan debt burden is a significant impediment to racial and social equity, undermining the goal of long-term economic security, constraining other economic choices including pursuing advanced degrees necessary for professional advancement, home ownership, and supporting children in their educational advancement.

  • Industry-Specific Scholarships: $50,000 annually:  A $50,000 annual grant from a corporation can aid up to five students per year with scholarships in the name of the company.  Industry-specific grants can support corporate initiatives to identify and recruit talented students of color onto the professional pathways that the company identifies.

Widening Career Pipelines Support:

Trinity DARE Mentor Program: $150,000 annually

A formal mentorship program engaging successful Trinity graduates and business leaders among Trinity partners would pair every Trinity student in the DARE scholars program as well as other students with a professional mentor.  An annual gift or grant of $150,000 will support a staff position to organize and manage the DARE Mentor Program, as well as programmatic expenses.

Trinity DARE Internships: $5,000 each per semester

Internship experiences often lead to first professional jobs, and an internship relationship can strengthen a company’s ability to recruit talented Trinity students.  Students need stipends to replace hours working in other jobs in order to have the time for internships.  A grant of $5,000 funds one student each semester.

Trinity DARE Career Services Partnership:  $25,000

The DARE program requires Trinity to enlarge and strengthen the work of the Career Services Office in order to provide exceptional support for the goals and objectives of the DARE program.  Trinity invites corporate partnerships to build a fund that will strengthen the programming and staff capacity of the Career Services Office.

Faculty and Academic Initiatives Support:

Aligning Programs with Career Pipelines:  $250,000 Program Development Fund

Fulfillment of the goals of Trinity DARE requires alignment of academic programs with career pathways and corporate expectations for the academic preparation of students entering the professions.  Academic renewal is a continuous process at Trinity, and the deliberate re-alignment of programs in designated fields to widen career pipelines to achieve racial equity goals will require additional investments for faculty time and expertise, consultation, and recruiting new faculty for new programs.  As one example, Trinity’s Mathematics program seeks to create a Data Analytics concentration or major to develop a more specific pipeline for Trinity students aligned with the emerging technology workforce needs of the Washington region. A $250,000 Program Development Fund supports the strategic planning processes that guide creation of new programs, as well as the start-up funds to ensure program success.

Faculty Development for Advancing Racial Equity in Teaching: $50,000 annually

Building faculty capacity to advance racial equity in teaching requires financial support to fund faculty stipends to support their participation in professional development programs, participation in conferences and preparation of papers that can help to disseminate Trinity’s work on inclusive excellence and racial equity more broadly in higher education.  A $50,000 annual grant to Trinity can fund as many as 25 faculty members with small grants to engage in various forms of professional development.

Research and Colloquia on Racial Equity Issues:  $100,000 annually

Trinity DARE will foster development of a number of collaborative research projects engaging faculty and students in critical examination of issues such as racial disparities in healthcare and education, the disproportionate impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Black communities, a study of the Black Lives Matter movement and parallels to other civil and human rights movements, and many other topics.  A grant of $100,000 funds the faculty and student stipends for work on research projects over a period of time, as well as collaborative researchers, guest lecturers, and the costs of colloquia for the presentation of research and follow-up publications.

Go to Trinity Leadership for Racial Equity

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