Fisk University Receives $4M Federal Grant to Expand Justice Propulsion Lab
Fisk University (a UNCF-member institution) secured a $4 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education to expand its Justice Propulsion Lab (JPL)’s work in civil discourse, constitutional literacy and conflict transformation.
The JPL is a research, policy and practice center dedicated to understanding violence, developing agents equipped to confront it and cultivating peace and justice. It brings together Justice Propulsion Agents, students, scholars, practitioners and community members alongside institutions and partners to investigate violence in its many forms and transform what it learns into ideas, interventions, policies and practices. The JPL started in 2019 at Albany State University and moved to Fisk in 2022.
The grant will pay for new technology, more staff, research infrastructure, student programs and events focused on justice and civic leadership. It will build on the JPL’s model of developing Justice Propulsion Agents, expand student participation and deepen the involvement of Fisk faculty and staff. Fisk aims to develop approaches that can be adapted by other HBCUs, liberal arts institutions and community partners.
Recent JPL projects have included civic voting simulations with Metro Nashville elementary students, research on corporal punishment and school discipline and Justice Propulsion Agents preparing more than 1,000 meals for children for North Nashville’s Free Community Food Program.
“At a time when polarization threatens trust in institutions and in one another, Fisk University is investing in the disciplined practice of critical dialogue,” said Dr. James B. Pratt, Jr., founding director, Justice Propulsion Lab, and principal investigator of the grant. “This award affirms our historic role in shaping leaders who think rigorously, speak courageously and act justly. Through the Justice Propulsion Lab, we are preparing students and communities beyond our campus not simply to argue, but to listen, mediate and build.”
Fisk is the only HBCU in the country to receive this funding for civil discourse. This four-year award is a significant federal investment in Fisk’s work at the intersection of justice, civic leadership and higher education.
The grant will conclude in 2029, marking the JPL’s 10th anniversary. Fisk plans to commemorate the anniversary with a Justice in Action Conference, convening students, scholars, practitioners, alumni and civic leaders around the future of justice-centered civic leadership.
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