Senators Reverend Warnock, Ossoff Secure Over $2 Million to Restore Campus Infrastructure at Augusta HBCU

Paine College, a Historically Black College & University in Augusta, Georgia, is set to receive over $2 million to restore dilapidated buildings on campus

Funding will go towards restoration projects for the Historic Peters Campus Center, Eppworth Hall, and Belle Bennett Hall

Federal funding made possible by annual government funding legislation, championed by the Senators for its investments in Georgia

Earlier this year, Senator Reverend Warnock delivered commencement speeches at Georgia’s Albany State University as part of his HBCU Commencement Tour

Senator Reverend Warnock is a 1991 graduate of Morehouse College and one of two sitting U.S. Senators to graduate from an HBCU

Senator Reverend Warnock has secured $267 million for Georgia’s HBCUs to date, part of $16 billion in federal investments delivered to HBCUs since 2021 and championed by the Senator

Senator Reverend Warnock: “I am proud to champion our nation’s HBCUs in the Senate, and thrilled to secure this new federal funding alongside Senator Ossoff to restore vital campus infrastructure that makes a good education possible”

Senator Ossoff: “I will never stop working on behalf of Georgia’s HBCUs. Senator Reverend Warnock and I are pleased to deliver this funding to Paine College”

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Jon Ossoff (D-GA) announced $2,249,039 in federal funding coming to Paine College, a Historically Black College & University (HBCU) in Augusta, Georgia. The funding will restore dilapidated buildings on campus, specifically going towards restoration projects for the Historic Peters Campus Center, Eppworth Hall, and Belle Bennett Hall. The federal funding made possible by annual government funding legislation, championed by Senators Warnock and Ossoff for its investments in Georgia.

“Founded in the post-Civil War era to educate and uplift Black men and women and help heal the ails of a nation, Paine College has been steadfast in developing scholars into leaders their communities need,” said Senator Warnock. “I am proud to champion our nation’s HBCUs in the Senate, and thrilled to secure this new federal funding alongside Senator Ossoff to restore vital campus infrastructure that makes a good education possible.”

“I will never stop working on behalf of Georgia’s HBCUs. Senator Reverend Warnock and I are pleased to deliver this funding to Paine College,” said Senator Ossoff.

The federal funding is being administered from the National Park Service (NPS) and is part of a larger $10,670,000 investment in 15 projects in eight states as part of the Historic Preservation Fund’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities grant program. The grant program focuses on the repair of historic structures on the campuses of HBCUs. Congress appropriated funding for the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Grant Program in Fiscal Year 2023 through the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF). Established in 1977, the HPF was authorized at $150 million per year through 2024 and has provided more than $2 billion in historic preservation grants to states, Tribes, local governments, and nonprofit organizations.

Senator Reverend Warnock has successfully secured hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for Georgia’s HBCUs, and more than $7 billion in total for HBCU campuses across the country. Additionally, Senator Reverend Warnock has pushed to strengthen state support for 1890’s land-grant colleges and universities, to ensure they get their fair share of funding, through the Land- Grant Research Equity and Accountability Act and has passed legislation to honor first-generation college students.

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