Instant Alert: A historically black college just opened a campus at Google headquarters — here's what it's like inside

MANAGE SUBSCRIPTIONS   |   UNSUBSCRIBE   |   VIEW ONLINE   A historically black college just opened a campus at Google headquarters — here's what it's like inside by Chris Weller on Jun 28, 2017, 3:27 PM Advertisement Howard University, one of the nation's largest historically black colleges, is granting 25 to 30 students the chance to spend their summer as Googlers. For three months starting this summer, rising juniors and seniors will take classes at the new Howard West campus in Mountain View, California. Students at Howard West will learn from Google employees and Howard faculty with the goal of establishing themselves in an industry where black engineers are largely absent. In 2016, just 1% of Google's technical engineering staff identified as black. Meanwhile, 37% identified as Asian and 57% identified as white. Howard West was designed by Kurani, a design firm specializing in learning spaces. The firm's founder, Danish Kurani, gave Business Insider a virtual tour of the new space. Here's what it's all about. SEE ALSO: Howard University is opening a campus at Google headquarters to get more black engineers in tech Kurani says Howard West is meant to blend seamlessly with the existing Google campus in order to produce "collisions" with actual Google employees and foster conversations. For that reason, Howard West sits in one of the landmark buildings at the Googleplex. It occupies two floors. "We decided to give the students a balance between the professional the academic," Kurani told Business Insider, "so that they feel that collegiate vibe as well as that professional vibe." One of the staples is the faux-grassy "quad," complete with tall windows, comfortable seating, and a ping-pong table. "All of the spaces upstairs are very collegiate," Kurani said. Already, he's seen Google staff playing against students in games of ping pong. "So there's a lot of bonding and relationship-building that happens," he said. The upstairs includes a small workout room with Howard's mascot, the Bison, painted across a wall. See the rest of the story at Business Insider   Share the latest business news with your network:    Email sent to:   |   Manage your email preferences   |   Unsubscribe Terms of Service   |   Privacy Policy Business Insider. 150 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10011