AAC&U Receives $500,000 Grant from The Papa John’s Foundation to Support the Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers

Washington, DC—The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) announced today that it has received a two-year grant of $500,000 from The Papa John’s Foundation to support the establishment of Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) Campus Centers. The grant will support AAC&U’s effort to develop at least 150 self-sustaining, community-integrated TRHT Campus Centers.

AAC&U is partnering with higher education institutions to develop Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Campus Centers to prepare the next generation of strategic leaders and thinkers to break down racial hierarchies and dismantle the belief in the hierarchy of human value. The first ten TRHT Campus Centers have developed and are implementing visionary action plans with the aim of moving the needle on the transformative goal of erasing structural barriers to equal treatment and opportunity on campuses, in our communities, and for our nation around the pillars of the TRHT Framework: narrative change, racial healing and relationship building, separation, law, and economy.
In addition to providing support for the first ten TRHT Campus Centers, this funding will support new centers that will be selected through a call for proposals process later this year. Further information on the TRHT Framework can be accessed here.

“The Association of American Colleges and Universities is grateful to Papa John’s and CEO Steve Ritchie for their commitment to and investment in building community. Their support will enable AAC&U to carry its Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation program, aimed at jettisoning a belief in the hierarchy of human value, to the next level. Only by working together to upend structural racism and classism will we be able to fulfill the promise of American higher education,” said AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella.

For more information about the TRHT Campus Centers, visit www.aacu.org/trht-campus-centers.

About AAC&U

AAC&U is the leading national association dedicated to advancing the vitality and public standing of liberal education by making quality and equity the foundations for excellence in undergraduate education in service to democracy. Its members are committed to extending the advantages of a liberal education to all students, regardless of academic specialization or intended career. Founded in 1915, AAC&U now comprises 1,400 member institutions—including accredited public and private colleges, community colleges, research universities, and comprehensive universities of every type and size.

AAC&U functions as a catalyst and facilitator, forging links among presidents, administrators, faculty, and staff engaged in institutional and curricular planning. Through a broad range of activities, AAC&U reinforces the collective commitment to liberal education at the national, local, and global levels. Its high-quality programs, publications, research, meetings, institutes, public outreach efforts, and campus-based projects help individual institutions ensure that the quality of student learning is central to their work as they evolve to meet new economic and social challenges.

Information about AAC&U can be found at www.aacu.org.