In a boost to its programs serving underrepresented high school students, Kettering University today announces it has received a $200,000 grant from General Motors. The grant will help Kettering expand three programs that introduce female and minority high school students to pre-college science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. 

“General Motors has been a generous donor and active co-op partner to Kettering University for over 40 years, providing vital financial support and employing hundreds of our students over that time,” said Kettering University President Dr. Robert K. McMahan. “With this grant, they continue to partner with us in creating opportunities for talented precollege students to pursue bright futures in STEM education.”

For GM, supporting the Kettering programs helps the company fulfill its goal to make STEM education accessible to underserved Michigan populations.

“Working to ensure high schoolers consider STEM degrees is critical to growing a diverse pipeline for these in-demand careers,” said Terry Rhadigan, Vice President of Corporate Giving at GM. “GM is proud of our work with Kettering University and their efforts to inspire and develop our future leaders and innovators.”

The grant is earmarked for three programs that bring high school students to Kettering for science, technology, engineering and math education in a college setting:

• Academically Interested Minds (AIM) program to expand AIM’s mission to bring to campus 28 to 36 rising high school seniors of color from across the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean for five weeks over the summer. The students take freshman-level classes in calculus, chemistry, communications, computers and physics.
• Lives Improve Through Engineering and Science (LITES) will invite approximately 25 incoming high school seniors to campus for two weeks over the summer to explore their interest in science, technology and engineering, exposing female students to these disciplines.
• The Robotics Community Center will host precollege camps on campus, STEM/technical/team workshops on campus, and high school robotics team trips to campus. Kettering also will use part of the grant to buy a STEM resource trailer and stock it with supplies. The trailer will be loaned to historically excluded communities and Title I schools to enable them to host STEM competitions. It also will enable Kettering to take its pre-college STEM camps to schools around the state.

“The ability to bring STEM camps to an underserved student or to enable a school to host a STEM competition is a critical component of reaching the underserved population,” said Kim Shumaker, Robotics Community Center and Robotics Outreach Director. “Through precollege summer camp scholarships, the General Motors grant will also help remove barriers preventing underserved students from participating in an on-campus, residential camp. The Robotics Community Center at Kettering University is honored to have been the recipient of the GM grant and looks forward to reaching more students through this generous support."

GM and Kettering have a shared history that goes back to 1926. At that time, Kettering was known as The School of Automobile Trades before GM acquired the school and renamed it the General Motors Institute (GMI). For 56 years, GM operated the school as GMI, and it became one of the company’s best sources of creative and successful engineering and managerial talent. In 1982, GM divested itself of ownership of the school, and it became the private, non-profit Kettering University.