Drexel University has received a $9 million donation to found a center to combat “structural racism and racial inequities” the College Fix reported Wednesday.
According to a university news release, the new Center on Racism and Health “will focus on structural racism and racial inequities in urban contexts and how these intersect with pressing population health challenges.”
Some of those health challenges include “police brutality and climate change,” the College Fix noted.
The $9 million gift comes from Drexel alumna Dana Dornsife and her husband David, whose name already graces the Dornsife School of Public Health, thanks to an earlier $45 million donation.
“All over the world there are renewed calls to address racism as the public health crisis that it is,” said Ana Diez-Roux, dean of the School.
“The Dornsife School has a responsibility to respond to this crisis,” Diez-Roux said. “We are thrilled that this gift will allow us to elevate and expand critically needed research, training and policy work in this area at Dornsife and at Drexel more generally.”
The new center will focus on three primary goals, according to university officials, namely: to advance anti-racist public health research, to provide anti-racist public health training opportunities, and to foster engagement in anti-racist practice and advocacy through “alignment with social justice movements.”
Thanks to the gift, the Dornsife School of Public Health will be able to hire two new faculty members who specialize in racial inequities and health as a result of the donation.
“With this gift, we will advance solutions to society’s most pressing public health problems as they impact communities of color and lead the way in eliminating health disparities for all,” said John Fry, the university’s president.