The Atlanta HBCU Alumni Alliance, has stepped in to fill the gap that thousands of students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since shelter-in-place orders were issued in early March, colleges around the country were closed, and students were forced to leave campuses and continue their coursework online. Students at many of those campuses, including Atlanta-area HBCUs like Morehouse, Spelman, Clark Atlanta University, Morris Brown College and the Interdenominational Theological Center had just days to pack up their belongings and move out of their dormitories.

For many of those students, the price of ending the semester early came with financial concerns of spending money to return to their hometowns, find off campus housing and other challenges. The Atlanta HBCU Alumni Alliance, which was founded more than 15 years ago, has expanded its robust scholarship efforts to provide additional funds to students impacted by this crisis in our country with the organization’s new COVID-19 emergency grant, named for Atlanta restaurateur Mike Murrell, an HBCU alumni and longtime supporter of the Atlanta HBCU Alumni Alliance and local colleges and universities. Mr. Murrell passed away from COVID-19 this past April.

“Mike was always a huge supporter of HBCUs, and an even bigger supporter of students who attended HBCUs so providing this grant in his name to assist students impacted by COVID-19 is the least we could do to honor his memory and service to HBCUs.”

Students from Metro Atlanta, who attend one of our nation’s HBCUs affiliated with the Atlanta HBCU Alumni Alliance, can apply for one of the scholarships by applying online here. The grant will be awarded in $250 increments and will be distributed to students upon confirmation of enrollment for the 2020 fall semester.

Additionally, because of the COVID-19 crisis, organizers of the Atlanta HBCU Alumni Alliance have moved its annual summer race to a virtual one. The event will now take place from Saturday, June 26 - Saturday, July 3. Participants will be able to sign up and make plans to finish the 5K in a one week period to raise funds and awareness about HBCUs and their impact on today’s African-American leaders and our greater world.

Since its inception, participants and sponsors of the HBCU Alumni Alliance 5k have helped to raise more than $1.4 million for scholarships to aid some of the best and brightest students from Metro Atlanta. Registration is open now at https://raceroster.com/registration/29981/entry.

To learn more about the Atlanta HBCU Alumni Alliance, visit https://hbcualumniatlanta.org/.