Posted on September 6, 2011

Microsoft Awards $8 Million Software Grant to Thurgood Marshall College Fund

The New York City-based Thurgood Marshall College Fund has announced a software grant valued at $8 million from Microsoft Corporation, bringing the company's total commitment to the fund over the past seven years to $29 million.

The grant will help strengthen the IT capacity of TMCF's forty-seven member network of historically black colleges and universities by enhancing the institutions' instructional and communications capabilities and helping them to build sustainable learning environments. TMCF's longstanding partnership with Microsoft is part of the fund's Technology Initiative, which aims to provide staff and students of member institutions with access to current technology for rigorous educational purposes, provide instruction on the usage of new software, and offer residents of the surrounding communities access to the institutions' IT resources.

"Microsoft has always been committed to working with colleges and universities to help students achieve the knowledge and skills necessary to thrive in a competitive industry," said TMCF president and CEO Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. "These grants have been a major contributor to facilitate capacity building for our network of schools."