Turner lauds increased federal funding for Ohio’s Central State University

U.S. Rep. Mike Turner (OH-10) last week highlighted the benefits of federal grants by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) into historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), including Wilberforce, Ohio-based Central State University (CSU).

“Today’s announcement is a huge win not only for Central State but for our community,” Rep. Turner said at CSU last week. “The money included in this grant will be used to continue the vital research already being conducted at the university, and I am incredibly proud of the work and research being done here.”

Rep. Turner cosponsored an amendment in the U.S. House of Representatives version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020 calling for the formation of the National Security Commission on Defense Research, which would address inequality in defense funding and identify ways to build research capacity at HBCUs and other minority institutions. The House and U.S. Senate currently are reconciling their versions of the NDAA; H.R. 2500 and S. 1790, respectively.

“Since being federally recognized as an 1890 Land Grant Institution, Central State was unfairly being left out of certain funding opportunities because of how it was designated,” Rep. Turner said. “The amendment I cosponsored with Representative Anthony Brown included in this year’s defense bill would require the Secretary of Defense to expand the research capability of Historically Black Colleges like Central State University.”

The congressman also said that the U.S. Department of Agriculture earlier this month notified CSU that it had been awarded $6 million in federal grants that will be equally matched by the State of Ohio.

In total, CSU will receive roughly $12 million in federal grant funding, a $7.4 million increase over the previous fiscal year, according to Rep. Turner’s office.