Philander Smith College receives $2M grant to help renovate the Elders School of Allied and Public Health

The banner for Philander Smith College in Little Rock is shown in this Oct. 4, 2021, file photo. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Stephen Swofford)
The banner for Philander Smith College in Little Rock is shown in this Oct. 4, 2021, file photo. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Stephen Swofford)

Philander Smith College has received a $2 million grant from the Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church to help pay for a project to renovate and expand the college’s Dr. Joycelyn Elders School of Allied and Public Health.

The grant will fund the renovation and expansion of existing laboratory, research and clinical spaces, the college said in an announcement Tuesday. Additional plans include an Allied Health Simulation Center, enhanced classroom spaces, and skills and computer labs.

The Elders School is a $29.5 million project divided into two phases.

The first phase is a $9.5 million plan, with $5 million to renovate and expand existing research laboratories, clinical and other instructional spaces. With the Global Ministries’ gift, $6.5 million has been raised so far for phase one.

The second phase will create a $20 million Allied Health complex, according to the college.

“We are tremendously grateful for this $2 million grant that reflects our deep-rooted relationship with the Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church,” said Roderick L. Smothers, president of Philander Smith College, in a news release. “These critical funds will support the expansion that will enable the Dr. Joycelyn Elders School of Allied and Public Health to address global health disparities in fulfillment of the vision for The Harry R. Kendall Health and Science Mission Center --- which Global Ministries also generously helped make possible.”

The Elders School is housed at the Harry R. Kendall Science and Health Mission Center. The Kendall Center was completed at the college’s campus in 2004 with an $8 million Global Ministries grant.

The college said renovation work for the Elders School is scheduled to begin in early spring 2023.

Elders, 89, of Little Rock, is a former U.S. surgeon general and a former director of the Arkansas Department of Health. She is a graduate of Philander Smith College, which is a private, historically black college in Little Rock affiliated with the United Methodist Church.

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