Prairie View A & M University

Utilizing the think tank power of our collective student body, PVAMU seeks to build public awareness and promote a call to action within the framework of “Defining Public Interest Technology in Academia.” Our planned initiative for joining the PIT university network is to create a community of invested students within the workforce of the near future capable of understanding and accurately communicating the benefits and challenges that minority populations will face. The concept of the proposed project is to develop a new interdisciplinary student organization that focuses on promoting discussion and activism from every college at the university that center around the affects technological advancements on social justice and the public interest. Our student club members will learn how to lead and facilitate discussion on how public interest technology could possibly affect their well as the affect it may have on their future work environment. Students will likewise gain awareness of the benefits/challenges of policy analysis and governance of PIT for communities members educated in an environment different than their own. The new “PIT club” student organizational model includes opportunities to express and share “Black Joy” experiences through design challenges with special interests to HBCUs.