New Program to Support HBCU Students with Scholarships as Part of the New Getty Images Photo Archive Grants for HBCUs

New York — August 11, 2021: Getty Images, a world leader in visual communications, and UNCF (United Negro College Fund), have announced the creation of the UNCF‑Getty Images Scholarship for students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

The program will provide scholarships to students attending HBCUs across the United States and will be funded by revenue created by the inaugural Getty Images Photo Archive Grants for HBCUs, that aims to support the digitization of the invaluable visual history of HBCUs.

“We thank Getty Images for its partnership and investment in our students’ futures. The Getty Images Photo Archive Grants for HBCUs exemplifies Getty Images’ commitment to support HBCUs and to give a visual life to previously untold stories,” said Dr. Michael L. Lomax, President and CEO, UNCF. “There is a wealth of unseen imagery within the archives of HBCUs that have rarely been seen, and these grants from Getty Images will be an essential part of the on‑going documentation and preservation of Black history.”

Recently launched in partnership and with financial support with the Getty Family and Stand Together, a philanthropic community tackling some of the biggest challenges of our times, the Getty Images Photo Archive Grants for HBCUs Program commits $500,000 towards the digitization of HBCU photographic archives. The Grant will support the digitization of up to 100,000 archival photos for two HBCU Grant recipients. HBCUs will retain all copyright, and original photos will be returned to the HBCUs after scanning, along with the newly digitized photos. Getty Images will represent the digitized photos, making this content available for educational and non‑commercial uses, providing a new revenue source for the HBCU Grant recipients.

Cassandra Illidge, Vice President of Partnerships at Getty Images, said, “Our industry and Getty Images has not historically worked from a foundation of diversity, equity and inclusion. We have built a program to not only honor the legacy and history of HBCUs and their contribution to American History, but a program which will support our students’ futures. For Getty Images to move the world, we must ensure that all content creators, their work, and their stories can be preserved.   We are committed to making content accessible and to ensure a more authentic representation of history.”

All revenue from the HBCUs photos on www.gettyimages.com will be distributed to HBCUs and to continue impacting the Grants Program: Fifty percent will go to Grant recipients, who will retain all copyright of the visual assets; twenty percent will be reinvested to fund the Getty Images Photo Archive Grants for HBCUs each year; and the remaining thirty percent of royalties will be distributed to the new UNCF‑Getty Images Scholarship with the goal of supporting the educational future of HBCU students. The scholarships will become available to students in 2022.

Stand Together CEO Brian Hooks said, “Stand Together is excited to build on our longstanding support for the HBCU community by participating in this important project alongside Getty Images and UNCF. By bringing images from HBCU archives to millions more people, the new curation will help celebrate the unique contributions that HBCUs, their graduates, and faculty members have made and continue to make to our country.”

Getty Images Co‑Founder and Chairman Mark Getty said, “At Getty Images we are excited about this partnership with HBCUs to digitize significant parts of their photographic archives. A photographic archive tells a story; it’s a visual history of who we are. As a society we can only learn from history if it tells everyone’s story. This partnership is an important step in that direction.”

For more information or to apply to the Getty Images Photo Archive Grants for HBCUs, go to https://grants.gettyimages.com/hbcu‑grant through Thursday, September 30, 2021, at 11:59 p.m. PT.

UNCF (United Negro College Fund) is the nation’s largest and most effective minority education organization. To serve youth, the community and the nation, UNCF supports students’ education and development through scholarships and other programs, supports and strengthens its 37 member colleges and universities, and advocates for the importance of minority education and college readiness. UNCF institutions and other historically Black colleges and universities are highly effective, awarding nearly 20% of African American baccalaureate degrees. UNCF administers more than 400 programs, including scholarship, internship and fellowship, mentoring, summer enrichment, and curriculum and faculty development programs. Today, UNCF supports more than 60,000 students at over 1,100 colleges and universities across the country. Its logo features the UNCF torch of leadership in education and its widely recognized trademark, ‟A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”® Learn more at UNCF.org or for continuous updates and news, follow UNCF on Twitter at @UNCF.

Stand Together empowers people dedicated to helping others improve their lives. Our philanthropic community tackles some of the biggest challenges of our time, including reforming the nation’s criminal justice system, strengthening K‑12 education, helping neighbors beat poverty and addiction, empowering everyone to find fulfilling work, and more. We can all make a greater difference by uniting together than by acting on our own. For more information visit, www.StandTogether.org. Join us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.