Funding will allow for high-tech, futuristic renewal of Prahl College Center building
(FLINT, Mich., April 20, 2022) – Mott Community College (MCC) announced today it has received its largest grant ever from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.
The $12.5 million grant was provided to MCC by the Foundation to support a future-focused and technology-driven renewal and renovation project of the existing Marie Prahl College Center building, first built in 1971.
“We are beyond grateful to the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation’s Board of Trustees and its President and CEO Ridgway White for this extraordinary grant,” said Dr. Beverly Walker-Griffea, president of Mott Community College.
“The college’s relationship to the Mott family and the Foundation runs deep,” Walker-Griffea continued. “It’s more than appropriate this grant is focused on preparing MCC and our students for the future, and the timing of the funding, coming on the eve of the college’s one hundredth anniversary, makes it even more special.”
With the completion of the project, estimated to occur in late 2023 or early 2024, the new Prahl College Center will be repurposed to include three new hubs for virtual navigation, cyber security and computer repair and future careers. The futuristic Prahl College Center will welcome virtual and in-person students, faculty, staff, business owners, entrepreneurs and speakers from around the world.
The building will feature the latest technologies to support teaching and learning, including virtual reality classrooms, artificial intelligence applications and holograms that answer questions and direct students and others to services and resources at MCC. Students will have the opportunity to engage with local, regional, state, national and international companies, entrepreneurs and thought leaders, all while acquiring knowledge and skills that will lead to employment in high-demand, high-wage careers.
“The reimagined Prahl Center is an exciting future-focused project that will allow students to connect to services and resources from anywhere,” said Ridgway White, president and CEO of the Mott Foundation.
“That’s a great addition for MCC and the community,” White added. “When students are on campus, the renovations will create a more welcoming environment and provide more collaborative spaces, which are especially important in building community, relationships and experiences that focus on preparing students for the new hybrid world. The Mott Foundation is happy to support the renovations and eager to see this plan come to fruition.”
It is estimated that the total cost of the Prahl renewal project will exceed $30 million. The college is actively seeking additional funding from a variety of sources to build upon the $12.5 million grant from the Mott Foundation.
Mott Community College is named after Charles Stewart Mott, the Flint community leader, industrialist, and philanthropist who in 1950 donated much of the farmland that was part of his Applewood Estate to what would become the College’s main campus in Flint. MCC, founded as Flint Junior College 99 years ago, will celebrate its Centennial Anniversary on September 23, 2023.
The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, established in 1926 in Flint, Michigan, by an automotive pioneer, is a private philanthropy committed to supporting projects that promote a just, equitable and sustainable society. It supports nonprofit programs throughout the United States and, on a limited basis, internationally. Grantmaking is focused in four programs: Civil Society, Education, Environment and Flint Area. In addition to Flint, offices are located in metropolitan Detroit, Johannesburg and London. In 2021, the Foundation made 382 grants totaling more than $171 million and had year-end assets of approximately $4.2 billion. For more information, visit www.mott.org.
