HUD awards $4M to Winston-Salem State University to create Research Center of Excellence
Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awarded nearly $4 million to Winston-Salem State University to establish a Research Center of Excellence. Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman made the announcement during a press conference on WSSU’s campus following her visit with students in an urban studies and sustainability class.
HUD’s Research Centers of Excellence (COEs) conduct research projects on topics of strategic interest to HUD and produce research that provides evidence-based solutions to housing, community development, economic development or built environment challenges in underserved communities.
“Universities are anchors in their respective communities; they serve as economic drivers and thought leaders. To build the knowledge and insights we need to drive housing policy, there’s no better place to look to than our nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs),” Todman said. “These funds are a part of an initiative that HUD has to make sure that we are resourcing some of the brilliant minds of HBCUs across the county.”
Winston-Salem State University competed for the funds. Dr. Dan Rose, associate professor of sociology for WSSU, served as principal investigator of the grant, along with co-principal investigators, WSSU's Dr. Richard Moye, Dr. Tangela Towns and Dr. Terrance Martin. The grant provides WSSU to conduct and share research on housing and community development needs and solutions for under-resourced rural communities with historically marginalized population. The research will contribute in the long run to stabilizing rent and ensuring help for first-time homeowners, Todman said.
This $4 million grant will be used to study important housing issues in Winston-Salem as well as other communities. Winston-Salem State University has now become the fourth HBCU in the nation, out of more than 100, to be awarded a HUD Center of Excellence. The research is designed to inform important policy decisions in an urgent time of housing crises with rising evictions, unaffordability and substandard living conditions being experienced by many across the nation.
“This is a tremendous honor for Winston-Salem State to lead a game-changing effort focused on rural housing and development,” said WSSU Chancellor Bonita Brown.
In many instances, WSSU is the connector between issues affecting the urban area in Winston-Salem and the Piedmont Triad Region, Brown said. “We educate many rural, first-generation and low-income students. Winston-Salem State understands the barriers that housing can present for aspiring students looking to take that next step in their journey. This partnership with HUD is representative of the next step in our institution’s journey for us to grow and become the best version of who we are and what we aim to be in partnerships and relationships. Relationships like this will be central to our long-term success.”
WSSU is also uniquely positioned to build groundbreaking work in the areas of spatial equity and fair housing opportunities in Winston-Salem. In a timely piece, professor Craig Richardson, director of the WSSU Center for the Study of Economic Mobility, co-authored a New York Times editorial titled, “How We Unintentionally Created the Affordable Housing Crisis,” that published on the same day of the HUD Secretary’s visit.
“This investment for a Research Center of Excellence is not only an endorsement of the university’s scholarship found on campus but is also confirmation of the school’s $500 million-plus economic impact annually to Winston-Salem and the Piedmont Triad Region,” Brown said.
“We’re so proud of what’s happening here at Winston-Salem State University.,” said Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines. “It is such an important part of the mosaic of Winston-Salem’s economic fabric and cultural fabric. We are working hard to develop affordable housing in the City of Winston-Salem.”
The announcement today supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic record commitment to HBCUs to the tune of $17 billion over the last several years, Todman said.
HUD also announced $1M to Tennessee State University, which will study displacement and relocation from a gentrifying neighborhood in the Greater Nashville Region and the efficacy of HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher in meeting the housing needs of vulnerable populations in the region.
“The Center of Excellence program at HUD is designed support evidence-based, data-driven, and community-informed policymaking and program improvements at the local, state, and national levels,” said Solomon Greene, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research. “HUD is proud to forge new partnerships with HBCUs and invest in innovative and actionable housing and community development research that can help shape policy and deliver better outcomes for communities.”
Click here to view more photos of the visit.
