The Atlanta historically Black college, Morehouse, is teaming up with a familiar face to give incoming students a technological advantage this fall semester.
What We Know:
- The college announced that it will partner with Microsoft to provide Surface tablets for new enrollees, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported. The announcement was made during Morehouse’s “Virtually Admitted-Students Day” via YouTube Saturday.
- The Microsoft Surfaces are the iconic devices which double as tablet and laptop computer. Personal computers have become even more integral as college campuses closed abruptly and in-person classes were moved online in March due to the deadly COVID-19 outbreak.
MXP.1 News – Morehouse is partnering with Microsoft in a campaign to address the digital divide that will equip newly enrolled students for the 2020-21 academic year with Microsoft Surface 2-in-1 tablets that run Windows 10 and can be used in either tablet or desktop mode. pic.twitter.com/nX2goee6W9
— Morehouse College (@Morehouse) April 25, 2020
- The partnership was created with the intent to motivate and help students push through their studies in Morehouse. In a news release, President David A. Thomas stated that students at historically Black colleges and universities, HBCUs, are most impacted by the current “digital divide” which is felt throughout low-income communities.
- Nearly half of households that earn $30,000 a year do not have home computers, a critical component of the new stay-at-home normal.
- “We are grateful to Microsoft for partnering with us to help level the playing field in technology for our new students,” Thomas said in the press release. “The digital divide is another battlefield in the fight for social justice because it is directly linked to income disparities between racial groups.”
With over 90 percent of Morehouse’s 2,200 students qualifying for financial aid, Thomas seemed happy that this initiative will help students and their parents be “be prepared for a successful transition to college. Many hope this act of generosity will flood over to other colleges helping struggling students.
