Across the country, many Americans have protested and fought viciously to bar data centers from sprouting up in their neighborhoods, due to their strain on natural resources and pollution. 

So it’s no surprise that Fisk University's plan to build a $400 million data center on its historic Nashville campus has sparked major backlash from students and alumni. There was reportedly no public hearing before the announcement, which came just after the spring semester ended, according to Capital B News. Students and locals from the majority-Black neighborhood felt surprised by the announcement.

The HBCU unveiled a $900 million, 10-year transformation plan on May 14 at Jubilee Hall. The plan includes a 70,000-square-foot, 30-megawatt data and technology center alongside new STEM buildings and student housing. Though the school’s neighbors worry about water use, electricity demand, and its proximity to homes.

Students have vocalized that the project clashes with the university's identity as a liberal arts institution founded by artists. Many worry about the environmental toll: data centers nationwide are projected to consume as much water as 5.5 million people by 2028 and have been tied to rising air pollution.

Tennessee alone already has 60 data centers, and the Fisk proposal follows a separate fight over a center near the Nashville Zoo. Two counties in the state recently froze new data center construction while they draft regulations, per the Tennessee Lookout.

“I think that they’re aiming these at … these smaller places in Tennessee because our land is so cheap, our laws are so lenient, the income isn’t taxed like it is anywhere else, and generally they’re just not going to get a lot of pushback, because a lot of people don’t know what’s going on, and they don’t know anything about this,” said one resident to the outlet. “Luckily, a lot of people around here were informed, so as soon as we alerted people about this, people quickly reacted.”

Fisk unveiled the data and technology project as part of a larger campus overhaul to modernize its infrastructure and strengthen opportunities for students, and said the facility would be developed with a “do no harm” approach.

“If, along the way, we had identified instances where a project of this nature would do harm, we wouldn’t be here today,” said Fisk University President Agenia Clark back in May of the $900 million plan, per the AP.

The dispute has also become symbolic. For some alumni and residents, the question is not whether Fisk should embrace technology, but whether an HBCU should carry the burden of hosting an industry many communities are resisting.