June 5, 2001 — The University of the Virgin Islands has received millions of dollars recently in grant money for its health programs.
At a Board of Trustees meeting Saturday, UVI President Orville Kean announced that UVI had received a $1.7 million National Institutes of Health grant for Minority Biomedical Support Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement. The grant is one of two major grants the university has recently received totaling over $3 million.
The grant, Kean noted, is two times larger than grants given to other historically black universities, including Morgan State in Baltimore whose student body is twice as large as UVI's.
"We are creating a culture of research excellence at the university," Kean said. "We expect that there will be more grants coming to the university."
Kean also announced a $100,000 gift from Edith Galiber, widow of Dr. Andre Galiber, towards nursing scholarships at UVI. Dr. Galiber was a prominent St. Croix radiologist and physician who died of cancer last September.
The gift from Edith Galiber, Kean said, "demonstrates that the university is being recognized and is being supported . . . at an unprecedented level" by local residents.
Generally, large gifts come from outside the territory by businesses that have assets here, Kean noted.
In other board action, the Buildings and Grounds Committee sought and received board approval to proceed with the design and construction plans for a new dining facility on the St. Thomas campus. This approval allows the capital development area to prepare the project for the bidding process. The new dining facility is part of a broader 10-year capital development plan for both campuses.
The Finance Committee reported on appropriations and allotments for the current fiscal year, reviewed the budget performance through March 2001 and won the board’s approval for a $20,000 increase to the budget for the Foundation for the University of the Virgin Islands Inc. This increase will support the foundation's capital campaign and annual fund-raising activities.
The board then moved into executive session.
