Howard University to open campus at Googleplex in Mountain View
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Howard University is opening a campus at the Googleplex in Mountain View.
Imagine the leg up these kids will have when it comes to landing their future jobs.
This new idea is to give them a physical space where they will learn the innovative tools they will need for their future careers, all while soaking up the tech culture in Silicon Valley.
The sprawling Googleplex located in the heart of Silicon Valley is stuff of movies.
Their corporate headquarters in Mountain View does often seem like a university campus and now it really will be for 25 handpicked students from one of the nation's top historically black universities.
"We're excited to partner with Howard University to create a more immersive experience," Google's Vice President of Global Partnerships Bonita Stewart said.
Google made the announcement Thursday as a new commitment to diversity in tech.
Like a study abroad program, but instead of another country, students will come from Washington DC to Silcon Valley.
The 12 week summer program will debut this year and is unlike any other, with courses taught by Howard faculty and Google engineers.
"To really expose us to what's possible and so we're very excited," Howard University President Wayne Frederick said.
The president of Howard University hopes classes will not only inspire students, but also land them future jobs at companies like Google.
"African Americans are heavily involved in the tech industry on the user end and clearly we think there's an opportunity to put them on the creation end," Frederick said.
Right now, the program is designed for juniors and seniors studying computer science at Howard University, but Stewart told ABC7 News they'll soon include other historically black colleges and universities.
"Our goal is to create a robust pipeline and bring in next summer other HBCU's to participate," Stewart said.
This is new for Google as the closest thing they had prior was Code Next, where they help find and teach Hispanic and African American high school students interested in technology.
