Experience the Legacy: HBCU College Fair

Committed to bringing the excellence, innovation and pride of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) directly to high school students.

Experience the Legacy HBCU College Fair was established to educate local students on the history and significance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Our mission is to bring the excellence, innovation and pride of the HBCU experience directly to students. Our goal is to encourage, influence and raise awareness about these institutions through our college fair to promote an experience that is educational, resourceful and enjoyable.

Through Experience the Legacy HBCU College Fair, we bridge the opportunity gap for Black and Brown students, combining some of the fun of the iconic HBCU homecoming with the essential information that traditional college fairs provide. Students will network with current HBCU students and alumni, have the opportunity to speak with financial advisors, view live exhibitions and speak one-on-one with recruiters from an assortment of HBCUs. Parents, students and teachers have the opportunity to visit multiple colleges without leaving the state.

The future of college admissions without affirmative action disproportionately impacts deserving and qualified applicants of color. Now, more than ever, HBCUs, with their asset-based admission policies, are an inclusive and safe space to nurture the minds of students of color. Not only do HBCUs continue to produce many of the top performing African Americans across different fields, they provide a sense of community and empowerment through true self-awareness.

If you want to walk in the path of some of the most notable African Americans in history and unlock an exclusive network of alumni from all across the globe then we invite you to Experience the Legacy.

Before the Civil War, higher education for African American students was virtually nonexistent. The few who did receive schooling, such as Fredrick Douglass, often studied in informal and sometimes hostile settings. Some were even forced to teach themselves entirely. As a result of African-Americans generally being denied admission to traditionally white institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) became the principle means for providing them postsecondary education. These institutions were founded and developed in an environment of legal segregation and, by providing access to higher education, contributed substantially to the progress African-Americans have made in improving their status. 

In 1837, 26 years before the end of slavery, Richard Humphreys a Quaker philanthropist founded the Institute for Colored Youth to train freed African-Americans to become teachers. It became the first higher education institution for African-Americans founded in Cheyney, Pennsylvania. It was followed by two other institutions--Lincoln University, in Pennsylvania (1854), and Wilberforce University, in Ohio (1856). By 1953, more-than 75,000 students were enrolled in such well known public and private HBCUs such as Fisk University, Hampton Institute, Howard University, Meharry Medical College, Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Tuskegee Institute, as well as a host of smaller black colleges located in southern and border states. HBCUs also enrolled 3,200 students in graduate programs and these private and public institutions mutually served the important mission of providing education for teachers, ministers, lawyers, and doctors for the African-American population in a racially segregated society.

From institutions formed to serve former slaves, today there are more than 100 HBCUs with nearly 300,000 students enrolled. About half of these institutions are under private control, and the other half are public colleges and universities. Most (87) of the institutions are four-year colleges or universities, and 20 are two-year institutions. In the past, more than 80 percent of all African-American college graduates have been trained at HBCUs and although they were originally founded to educate African-American students, HBCUs have historically enrolled students of all races and ethnicities. In 2014, non African-American students made up 21 percent of enrollment at HBCUs and this diversity continues to increase over time. Over 100 years later, HBCU graduates are still thriving even more today than African-American graduates of other schools recent studies show. Thus, it is evident that Historically Black Colleges and Universities continue to be a vital resource in the nation's educational system providing pivotal academic and life experiences to those who attend.

Among African-Americans, HBCUs are responsible for graduating:

40% of all Congressmen
40% of Engineers
50% of Professors at non-HBCUs
50% of Lawyers
80% of Judges

Source:
Thurgood Marshall College Fund

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