Decatur, GA — United States Rep. Nikema Williams (GA-5) visited Agnes Scott College on Tuesday, March 21, to announce the college will receive about $1.02 million in community project funding.

The funding will help promote digital literacy, global learning, and professional success through technology. The funds will support the establishment of new high-technology classrooms focused on project-based learning initiatives and provide improved technology, resources, and laboratories for the Center for Digital and Visual Literacy.

Agnes Scott College President Leocadia Zak said the grant was the result of the work of Williams’ and her team.

“Today, we celebrate being among Georgia’s colleges and universities included in the higher education earmarks resulting from the 2023 omnibus award,” Zak said on Tuesday morning. “Rep. Williams is the leader who truly recognizes the need for digital literacy. I also have to thank our dedicated staff, who worked tirelessly on our submission, and clearly illustrated Agnes Scott’s passion to promote digital equity and offer a future-oriented curriculum in an increasingly digital world.”

She added that the college is poised to elevate further how it prepares students with the digital skills needed to thrive in the workplace.

“Our goals in increasing funding are not only to prepare our students with career-relevant digital skills needed to be agile and successful but also to positively engage more Georgia-based community partners who share the value of developing the next generation of women leaders,” Zak said.

Agnes Scott College President Leocadia Zak looks on as U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams (left) signs a giant check representing the community project funding the college will receive. Williams visited the college on Tuesday, March 21. Photo by Zoe Seiler.

Williams explained that every member of Congress can submit up to 15 community projects to receive federal funding.

“Right here on this campus, you show the need and how this impacts not just the students here, but the entire community,” Williams said. I’m grateful to be able to go to Washington [D.C] to say that I represent Agnes Scott College in the United States [House of Representatives].”

Williams has previously secured other community project grants for the Decatur community. The city received $750,000 to install solar panels at the Decatur Recreation Center.

“When we have opportunities that I can bring back from Washington, I look forward to these opportunities to connect with the community, to connect with the institutions that keep us going every day,” Williams said.

The resources the grants provide are need, she added.

“When we think about what we went through with the pandemic [and] access to technology and innovation, we all had to be creative. I was teaching virtual kindergarten,” Williams said.

Virtual kindergarten was hard on Williams and her son.

“It was very difficult for us, and so thinking about, you hear a lot about the elementary school students who had to do their homework in a McDonald’s parking lot. That doesn’t always connect to our college students, but that’s exactly what was happening across the board. We had a lot of students who didn’t have the technology, who didn’t have a way to access the learning to stay safe and learn at the same time,” Williams said.

Agnes Scott College President Leocadia Zak (left) and Decatur Mayor Patti Garrett (right) speak with Rep. Nikema Williams (center) on Tuesday, March 21, at Agnes Scott College.