Tennessee State University’s College of Public Service receives U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grant

Tennessee State University has received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in order to establish a center that will focus on studying the effects caused by gentrification, including displacement and relocation. This research could lead to policy changes that may help rectify housing challenges in the Nashville area.

According to an article on Tennessee State University’s website, Dr. Rodney E. Stanley, who serves as the interim dean of the College of Public Service, was quoted as saying of the magnitude of the grant award, “The HUD grant is the largest received by the Urban Studies Faculty and is the largest grant ever received by the College of Public Service. This Center of Excellence will provide valuable resources for adhering to part of the College of Public Service’s mission for research and community engagement. This is the first Center of Excellence in the College of Public Service. In turn, it will serve as an outstanding opportunity for students to work alongside faculty members in research on important public policy issues facing our urban communities. We are excited for this opportunity and we are extremely thankful to HUD for recognizing the valuable hard work that has been, and will continue to be conducted by our Urban Studies faculty.”

The grant’s principal investigator is Dr. Rafael Harun. Co-principal investigators include Dr. Kimberly Triplett, Dr. Cara Robinson, Dr. Reginald Archer, and Dr. Shui Bin.

Describing the type of research that will be conducted thanks to the grant award, Dr. Harun said, “Our research will examine the impacts of gentrification-induced displacement on families and communities in the Greater Nashville Region, focusing on trends and patterns of residential mobility, housing challenges, and the effectiveness of HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program in the meeting the housing needs of vulnerable populations in the region. By employing a mixed-methods approach, the study will generate actionable solutions to improve affordable housing access, mitigate displacement effects, and promote equitable urban development.”

Dr. Robinson, who will serve as the community partnership manager for the Center of Excellence – Urban and Community Research Center, said of the project, “The project will take a quantitative and qualitative analysis of those trends and patterns and provide policy solutions for addressing the needs of those individuals and families. The Center of Excellence – the Urban and Community Research Center – will build on this research through the provision of small and large research projects in partnership with federal, state, and local agencies.”

Dr. Harun will be the UCRC’s director and Dr. Triplett will be the center’s co-director.

Tennessee State University was one of two HBCUs to receive this funding from HUD. Each UCRC that is established via these grant awards will focus its attention on a different challenge currently facing the housing situation in the country. 

HUD’s Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman said, “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.”

For more information about Tennessee State University, visit the school’s website.