TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama College of Engineering recently received $25,000 in funding from Honda Manufacturing of Alabama in support of the College’s Multicultural Engineering Program that promotes diversity.

Honda has given an initial contribution to become a member of the Council of Partners, a group of companies created to ensure the success of the College’s Multicultural Engineering Program. The Council of Partners consists of participants that wish to support diversity programs as financial contributors, program steering representatives, program evaluators and student mentors. Council members commit a minimum annual contribution of $25,000 per year for four years to fund multicultural scholarships and program offerings.

“Honda is pleased to become a member of the Council of Partners with this contribution to the College of Engineering,” said James Freer, team manager in the Honda human resources department.

“Our expanding workforce in Lincoln includes a number of graduates of the University’s College of Engineering. It is our hope this program will offer assistance to many more students seeking opportunities in engineering and possibly a career in Alabama’s growing automotive industry.”

Currently, 20 percent of the College of Engineering’s undergraduate students are minorities (African American, Hispanic and Native American). A founding member of the Southeastern Consortium for Minorities in Engineering since 1976, UA’s College of Engineering has demonstrated a long-term commitment to improving educational opportunities for minorities in the engineering profession.

According to the 2001 Engineering Workforce Commission of the American Association of Engineering Societies, the UA College of Engineering ranks third in the nation among traditionally white institutions in the percentage of African-Americans enrolled.

When including all historically black colleges and universities in those statistics, the College still ranks 14th in the country in percentage of African-American students.

Located in Lincoln, about 40 miles east of Birmingham, HMA currently employs more than 2,700 associates in the annual production of more than 150,000 Honda Odyssey minivans and V-6 engines. Last fall, HMA started construction on a $425 million second assembly line that will eventually double production capacity to 300,000 engines and vehicles per year. When completed in 2004, Honda’s Alabama facility will total more than 2.8 million square feet with approximately 4,300 associates and an investment exceeding $1 billion.

In 1837, The University of Alabama became the first university in the state to offer engineering classes and was one of the first five in the nation to do so. Today, the College of Engineering has about 1,900 students and more than 90 faculty. It has been fully accredited since accreditation standards were implemented in the 1930s.