From Inside Higher Ed: When Agenia Clark took the helm of Fisk University in late 2023, she made it her mission to secure financial stability for the 160-year-old historically Black institution, which has seen its share of financial struggles and accreditation challenges. That led her to spearhead the development of Quantum Leap, a $900 million master plan whose details were first unveiled in May. It aims to grow enrollment at the Nashville campus to 1,500 students—up from a little more than 1,000 now—as well as spend $500 million on renovations and another $400 million on a 100,000-square-foot technology and innovation center, which will house a massive, high-powered data center.
The university says the innovation center “is intended to bring critical technology access to North Nashville, enhancing our curriculum and research capabilities and ensuring our students are prepared to enter the increasingly tech-driven workforce.” But it’s also become one of the latest flashpoints of the mounting nationwide backlash against the rapid expansion of data centers. Some critics say the proliferation of these centers is following historic urban development patterns that have disproportionately hurt marginalized communities...
While data centers have been around for decades, they’ve rapidly expanded in volume and capability during the AI boom of the past few years. According to Pew Research Center, as of April, more than 3,000 data centers were operating across the United States—with high concentrations in the South—and at least 1,500 are more in development. A growing number of colleges and universities—including the University of Michigan, the University of Alabama and Oakland University—have announced plans to open their own data centers to support campus infrastructure, AI research and industry collaboration...
Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/tech-innovation/artificial-intelligence/2026/08/07/will-data-center-bring-risk-or-reward-fisk.
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