Rosen College supported the Eatonville community by donating 20 computer hard drives and supporting equipment to the Excellence Without Excuse Computer Lab and Learning Center (E-WE Lab). Established by the Association to Preserve Eatonville Community (P.E.C.), the lab caters to school-age African American children learning computer and digital skills.
The donation occurred after the Rosen College updated technology in their computer labs through funding from the UCF Technology Fee distribution. The equipment refreshed the Eatonville lab’s technology that was nearly ten years old.
Alice M. Grant, the E-WE’s manager, shared in a letter to UCF Provost Tony Waldrop, “Your generous donation will certainly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our operations by providing faster, more reliable, and more modern equipment for our clients to use.”
Napoleon Garcia and Tim Smith with Rosen College’s Technology Department, worked diligently and persistently to make the transfer of the property possible.
Grant feels that the donation will help youth and families succeed in school and the workplace. “We are grateful for the assistance of others who share our goal for a better world in which to live and work.”
The Association to Preserve the Eatonville Community, Inc. (P.E.C.), is a membership-based, tax exempt, historic preservation organization. Established in 1988, the organization’s mission is to: enhance the resources of Eatonville, Florida, which is the oldest incorporated African American municipality in the United States (in 1887) and the hometown of writer, folklorist and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston; educate the public about Eatonville’s historic and cultural significance; and use the community’s heritage and cultural vibrancy for its economic development.
Rosen College remains committed to growing with the needs of local communities. This philosophy is in line with that of Mr. Harris Rosen and the UCF Office of Diversity Initiatives, www.diversity.ucf.edu [1].