July 5, 2026

Welcome to our weekly Sunday newsletter.

This week’s stories highlight HBCUs: Howard University partners with the Pentagon to research soil, students win big at the Sports Emmy Awards and Fisk University faces backlash over a data center on campus.

Howard University Lands $780K Pentagon Grant to Study How Soil Behaves Under Extreme Heat and Cold

Howard University has secured a $780,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense for a one-year research project led by Dr. Karam Jaradat, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering. His project, titled "Unraveling the Grain-Scale Mechanism of Soil Thermal Behavior," sits at the intersection of national security, climate resilience, and infrastructure engineering.

The research focuses on how soil reacts to extreme heat and freezing at the microscopic, grain level — an area that's currently understudied despite its importance. In arctic and permafrost regions, foundation soils face constant thermal stress, and as climate change makes conditions more unpredictable, engineers need a precise understanding of how the ground beneath buildings, roads, and military installations will respond. Jaradat noted that since soil is made of particles, its behavior under extreme conditions begins at that grain level, and the new instrumentation will let his team trace that micro-scale response up to large-scale, real-world behavior.

The grant funds more than research time — it pays for advanced equipment, including a thermomechanical triaxial system, a temperature-controlled atomic force microscope, and a micro-computed tomography scanner. Together, these tools will allow real-time, high-resolution analysis of soil under realistic freeze-heat cycles, data that hasn't been attainable at this level before. The acquisition is also expected to position Howard as a hub for advanced geomechanics and materials science, which could help draw top graduate students and additional federal partnerships.

Jaradat joined Howard in spring 2024, founded its Geomaterials Research Laboratory, and holds a Ph.D. in civil engineering from Stony Brook University, with prior experience at Jacobs Engineering Group and Virginia Tech. His grant adds to a string of recent wins for Howard's research profile: the university became the first HBCU to earn R1 Carnegie Classification and previously landed a $90 million Air Force contract to establish the first HBCU-led University Affiliated Research Center. Together, these developments point to a broader pattern of federally backed research success spreading across multiple departments at the university.

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Grambling State University and Southern University Law Center have launched a new 3+3 Accelerated Law Program, creating a faster and more affordable pathway for students to earn both a bachelor's degree and a law degree in just six years. The partnership is designed to strengthen the pipeline of future attorneys while reducing the time and cost of legal education. Eligible students will receive structured academic advising, LSAT preparation, mentoring, and early exposure to the legal profession before transitioning to law school. University leaders say the program will help remove barriers to legal education while preparing more diverse legal professionals to serve their communities.

Fisk University, the historic Nashville HBCU, is facing mounting backlash over its plan to build a data center as part of a $900 million campus overhaul. The university's "Quantum Leap" master plan, unveiled in May by President Agenia Clark, includes a 100,000-square-foot data and technology center alongside new housing, an arena and other facilities, framed by Fisk as a way to put AI infrastructure in the hands of an HBCU. The project, sited in a North Nashville zip code that is majority Black, has drawn comparisons to a pattern civil rights groups including the NAACP have criticized nationally. Data centers concentrated in minority neighborhoods have been linked to air pollution from gas turbines and heavy water use.

Local opposition has only grown since the announcement. Community members and alumni have questioned whether any large data center can avoid the environmental and infrastructure strains seen in similar projects elsewhere. They are pushing for more public meetings and transparency about potential commercial partners before construction begins. More than 4,200 people have signed a Change.org petition opposing the plan. One resident pointedly asked why a project billed as a plus to universities was landing at an HBCU rather than at Vanderbilt University. Fisk and its project partners maintain the facility, at roughly 30 megawatts, will be relatively small, LEED-certified and built without straining the neighborhood's power or water supply. The project's fate may hinge less on its technical specs than on whether the university can win back community trust.

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Students from Morehouse College, Florida A&M University, and Delaware State University were awarded the 2026 Coca-Cola HBCU Sports Production Grant at the 47th Annual Sports Emmy Awards in New York, splitting $40,000 total in a competition. Morehouse graduates Stevie Jackson, Mateo McIntosh, Makai Brown, Ian Chamberlin, and Salahuddin Saafir won first place and $25,000 for their documentary "Before the Bell," which follows the founder of the Morehouse Boxing Club and explores themes of mental health and brotherhood through sport. FAMU students Charmiana Delphonse, Rowan Mumford, and Darnell Walker-Jones won second place and $10,000 for "Tough Leather," a tribute to Hall of Fame softball coach Veronica Wiggins. Delaware State's Sanaiyah Baines-Butler and Tia Jarvis earned third place and $5,000 for "First to the Mat."

The grant, offered by the NATAS Foundation (the organization behind the Emmys) in partnership with Coca-Cola, asks teams to submit a video and essay around a yearly theme — this year's being "Excellence Beyond the Field: The Impact of Sports on HBCU Students, Campuses and Communities." A volunteer advisory committee that included comedian and FAMU alum Roy Wood Jr., Warner Bros. Discovery's Drew Watkins, and CBS Sports' Howard Bryant helped drive the surge in entries, and Wood personally called each winner ahead of the ceremony. Beyond the cash, winners gain an Emmy credential and industry connections. Winner Rowan Mumford was also named an inaugural Coca-Cola–TNT Sports summer intern as a direct result of the competition.

Our editor, Lisa D. Tinsley, would like to thank you for spending part of your day with KISA News Radio.

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