AT&T North Carolina has donated 100 new HP laptops and backpacks to Alamance Community College (ACC) for students in financial need as a sign of the strong partnership between the school and the global telecommunications giant.

 

Alamance Community College was the first educational institution in North Carolina to receive the laptop distribution, part of a $3 billion AT&T investment to help address digital equity and close the gap with affordability by donating 20,000 laptops to students across the U.S. this year, explained Mike Walker, AT&T Regional Director of External Affairs, during a formal presentation on the college campus.

 

“We at AT&T are excited to be a part of the solution to addressing the digital divide. This laptop distribution today is part of that initiative,” said Trey Rabon, President of AT&T North Carolina.

 

Sara Thynne, Director of the College’s Learning Resources Center, facilitated ACC’s role in the distribution. Angela Davis, Director of ACC’s PACE (Persistence from Application to Completion in Education) program, worked with her team of PACE coaches to identify students in need who were most deserving of the laptops and backpacks.  

 

Said Dr. Ken Ingle, ACC President: “I want to express my deepest thanks and gratitude to AT&T for this wonderful partnership, and for their donation of these resources to our students. The digital divide is still something that we face every single day. This generous gift from AT&T represents an investment in our students, in our economy, and our community. The laptops provided today will help our students develop these crucial skills, engage in innovative learning platforms, and access a world of information that is key to their academic and professional journey.”

 

“Closing the digital divide is a team effort. We cannot do this alone. We want to partner with as many organizations as possible, especially Alamance Community College,” said Annette Taylor, Director of the Office of Digital Equity and Literacy, a division of the NC Department of Information Technology (DIT).

 

The formal presentation concluded with 100 students in attendance lining up to receive their HP laptops and backpacks.

 

ACC’s Thynne estimated the monetary value of the laptops and backpacks donated to be approximately $100,000.