Fisk University president defends plan to build data center: 'Higher ed is in a different place right now'

Amid protests against data center development across the country, one historically Black university has made it key to its plan for financial viability.

As part of a $900 million master plan, entitled "Quantum Leap," Fisk University has proposed building a 100,000 square feet "Innovation & Technology Center" on previously undeveloped campus land -- 30,000 square feet of which would be used for academic space, and 70,000 of which would house a data center.

However, the Nashville, Tennessee, liberal arts college has not been immune to the growing criticism of data centers sweeping the country. In press conferences, a public town hall and a 17,000-signature petition, community members and students have pushed back against the plan.

In her first network interview addressing the recent backlash, Fisk University president Dr. Agenia Walker Clark defended the university's plan in an ABC News Live Prime interview on Monday.

"Higher ed is in a different place right now, and the challenges that we're up against are some we've never experienced before," Clark told anchor Linsey Davis. "We've got to be innovative, visionary and figure out what it looks like to go forward."

Referencing how the plan would make various campus renovations and new opportunities possible, Clark said it's a means for Fisk to achieve its mission as an institution of higher learning.

"This is part of a vision, along with updates to the resident halls, along with addition of other new buildings, that are much needed on the campus," she said.  "It will allow us to really strengthen the curriculum."

Asked by ABC News exactly how the "Quantum Leap" plan would be funded, Clark said, "Every part and piece of it will have different funding models to it."

Part of the plan, she said, would be funded by certain tax credits and a partnership with the nonprofit Brennan Center for Justice. She did not specify any funding sources specific to the data center, saying that the university is still looking for the "right partner" to develop the center.

On the process to find external partners, Clark noted that the university's leaders are working to maintain its identity.

"We look at who we are, how did we get here, and each of these projects will stay true to the history of Fisk," she said.

In response to Clark's interview, Tennessee State Rep. Justin Jones -- one of the "Tennessee Three" and a Fisk alum -- told ABC News that he remains unconvinced by the university's case.

"We're going to get $900 million allegedly, but at what cost?" Jones said.

The university is located in a Nashville neighborhood that is also historically predominantly Black. The proposed data center would sit within a half-mile of a local Boys & Girls Club, a park and several churches.

Clark told ABC News that they are still evaluating the specs and scope of the proposed data center, seeking options that would avoid adverse impact.

"No two data centers are alike," Clark explained. "There are no two that are designed or engineered that are alike, but it is the engineering component behind them that can be viewed and designed so that those don't become issues in the environment."

For Jones, that answer did not suffice.

"Show us where this has happened without environmental pollution or impact, and ... potentially we can support it," he said. "But as it stands now, she has given no example and refuses to be clear about who the corporate partners are. And I think that's the biggest red flags we're seeing as we go forward."

He also disputed the purported benefits of the plan.

"It seems hypocritical to say that a data center that could harm a historically Black community will pay for a John Lewis Center for Social Justice," he said.

Brynn Patterson, a senior at Fisk University, told ABC News that she would "absolutely not" want to use any student opportunities created by the Quantum Leap Master Plan. She recalled that she was "devastated" by the plan's announcement.

"Innovation is a good thing on paper, but I don't think that it should come at the cost of all the negatives that this data center will bring to campus," she said.

Patterson said it's "devastating" to consider the possibility of the university "committing ecocide to the community."

Winston Wright, a Fisk alum and public health professional who began the online petition against the data center plan, told ABC News that numerous parents of students reached out to him with concerns about the potential impact.

"These nuisances become actual issues for the students' quality of life. Well, then you'll have people not wanting to come to your HBCU because of the data center," Wright said. "It's not worth it at all."

In late July, following backlash against Fisk as well as a private company attempting to build a data center next to the Nashville Zoo, the city passed a temporary moratorium and new restrictions on data center development. Under these new guidelines, Fisk's data center plans would likely not be approved.

"You're seeing a coalition across the country that's multi-generational, multiracial, opposing data centers, and I think that should that we should listen to the people and think about who is being impacted," Jones said. "And so I am heartened by the resistance to this because I think it is bringing us together as Americans to say this is the future we want: not just for ourselves, but for our children and grandchildren."

Clark remains undeterred, telling ABC News that the university will integrate requirements into their final plan. The plan is still undergoing the municipal and regulatory process, and an expected start date has yet to be announced.

ABC News' Sara Avery contributed to this report.