Hundreds of students checked out the offerings at a few of the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities Saturday, as part of the 11th Annual Chicago Football Classic’s pre-game activities.
Jackson State University, Tuskegee University, Alabama A&M, Morehouse College and Fisk University were among the dozens of HBCUs represented at the college fair held at Soldier Field.
Not all students will go away to college, but the fair also included representatives from agencies that provide higher education information, no matter where students decide to go to school.
Mary Burns and her daughter, Alysia, were at the fair basically to gather information. A senior at Thornton Township High School in south suburban Harvey, Alysia is planning to go to an Illinois school–for financial reasons, her mother explained.
“I needed to get a feel for the types of questions I needed to be asking,” Mary Burns told the Defender. She and Alysia are starting to get in the thick of the college admissions process.
Shakira Kimball has been on college tours and was already familiar with some of the schools at Saturday’s college fair, her mother, Vanessa Kimball, explained.
But the Rich Central High School senior still has not finalized where she’ll go to pursue her nursing career. Fisk, located in Nashville, Tenn., is among the tops on her list though.
While college fairs can often be crucial for junior- and senior-level high schoolers, freshman and sophomores sometimes use the fairs to get acquainted with schools and get a feel for what they may be interested in later.
Saturday’s fair was the first one Kelli Dace, a sophomore at Kenwood Academy, had ever been to. She’s looking forward to a career in psychology and has been eyeing Hampton University in Virginia.
Representatives from the participating schools were eager to showcase their schools and to stump for HBCUs, in general.
Major Cooper, a representative from Kentucky State that participated in the college fair, said that events like the one Saturday are “important for inner-city youth.”
“It's very important for them to understand…the importance of HBCUs…and the need for African-Americans to pursue higher education,” Cooper told the Defender.
Like other representatives at the fair, Cooper touted HBCUs. With their smaller classroom and–in some cases–campus sizes, cheaper tuition, cultural history and competitive academic and sports offerings, compared to mainstream institutions, the nation’s more than 75 HBCUs account for a quarter of Black college grads.
Another plus for HBCUs is the feeling of “home” the students often experience.
“It gives them a place they can grow and experience…a family atmosphere,” Dr. Robert Laney Jr., vice president of admissions at Tuskegee University, told the Defender.
His Alabama school was participating in the college fair.
He said that, with their predominately Black faculty and staff, HBCUs offer more “intimate support than (at) predominately white schools.”
Amber Woods is eyeing southern Black colleges. A sophomore at D.H.W. Prep, housed in DuSable High School, Woods is not looking forward to academics, only. She’s “big on sororities” and is looking forward to pledging Delta Sigma Theta, hopefully at Alcorn State in Mississippi.
HBCUs have endured their share of strife. Financial woes and accreditation nightmares have put some of the most stellar schools on the line.
Florida A&M just regained critical accreditation for a number of its academic programs, and Knoxville recently waged a campaign to keep from shuttering the Tennessee school. Those are only two of many that have been in some sort of jeopardy. Still, students at Saturday’s college fair looked forward to college, whether at an HBCU or other school.
Rhonda Gillespie can be reached via e-mail at rgillespie@chicagodefender.com.
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