SC Midlands HBCU receives $1 million from TikTok to support Black medical students

South Carolina State University, in Orangeburg, has received $1 million from video-sharing company TikTok.

TikTok, a China-based company whose service is especially popular among Gen Z and Millenials, awarded nine other historically Black colleges and universities throughout America to support “students of color who are pursuing careers in medicine and the healthcare field,” according to a news release from S.C. State.

“Health care workers are the heroes of the global pandemic, and deserving heroes within the TikTok community,” TikTok’s head of culture and diversity for North America Belinda Frazier said in the news release. “We believe the next generation of health heroes should be reflective of the world around us and we are proud to support medical and health education programs that serve Black, Latinx and Indigenous students.”

Black Americans are underrepresented throughout the medical field, according to a 2004 study from educational consulting group ETS. Once medical professionals from minority groups enter the field, they tend to serve minority communities, according to a 2013 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

“We are grateful for this very generous gift from TikTok,” S.C. State President James Clark said in the release. “As an HBCU located in the rural South, we are mindful of the extraordinary need for healthcare professionals in a market where the number of African Americans with serious health disparities continue to tax our healthcare systems.”