BIT for Resilient HBCUs Partners and Funders See Student Impact in Action at Spelman
This summer, Southface welcomed partners and funders behind the BIT for Resilient HBCUs program to Spelman College for a firsthand look at what their investment is making possible.
During the visit, attendees explored the journey our student Fellows have taken—from learning to see their campus buildings differently and using professional tools to collect real data, to identifying more than 150 opportunities across five HBCU campuses to improve building performance, occupant experience, and resource efficiency.
The highlight was seeing that investment come to life through the students themselves. Our partners heard directly from Spelman student and Indoor Air Quality Champion Kelsey Harpe and joined Kelsey and Art Frazier, Spelman’s Director of Facilities Management and Services, for a tour of Giles Hall. There, a real campus need became a real-world learning opportunity, allowing Kelsey and her fellow Champions to put their new skills into practice by observing conditions, collecting and analyzing data, identifying patterns, and asking better questions about the buildings where they live and learn.
This work is possible because of an incredible ecosystem of support. Southface is deeply grateful to Sustain Our Future Foundation, our program co-developer and primary funder; Environmental Defense Fund, our exclusive Indoor Air Quality Best Practice Sponsor; Rego, our Waste Best Practice Sponsor; and WSP for its technical expertise and continued support.
Their investment goes far beyond equipment and training. It is helping students build practical skills, gain confidence, and see themselves as part of the solution—while demonstrating what is possible when HBCUs are empowered as hubs for climate action on their campuses and in surrounding communities.
We are also incredibly grateful to Art and the entire Spelman team for their ongoing partnership and for continuing to open doors for students to learn alongside the professionals who know and operate their campus buildings every day. That collaboration among students, campus leadership, facilities professionals, technical partners, and funders is exactly what makes this work possible—and what can help this model reach even more students, campuses, and communities.