Howard University yesterday announced a groundbreaking undergraduate residency program with tech giant Google, which officials say will strengthen professional pipelines from the nation’s flagship historically black college to Silicon Valley.
The ‘Howard West’ program will offer junior and seniors living and residential expenses for summer working experience in Mountain View, and extends the long-standing internship program between Howard and Google, which in recent years has extended to Fisk University, Hampton University, Spelman College, Morehouse College, Xavier University and Dillard University to provide more than 30 internships to aspiring computer scientists.
“Howard West will produce hundreds of industry-ready Black computer science graduates, future leaders with the power to transform the global technology space into a stronger, more accurate reflection of the world around us,” said Howard University President Wayne Frederick. “We envisioned this program with bold outcomes in mind – to advance a strategy that leverages Howard’s high quality faculty and Google’s expertise, while also rallying the tech industry and other thought leaders around the importance of diversity in business and the communities they serve.”
The HU fellowship is the latest in a growing line of tech partnerships between HBCUs and Google, and Google-affiliated programs. In 2016, Shaw University launched a partnership with Google’s Raleigh-based Entrepreneurial Tech Hub American Underground to house its Raleigh adult learning center.
