It Starts At Home: The Pipeline Between High School & HBCU’s

Written By: Elainey Bass It’s no doubt that HBCUs have shaped hopeful students into brilliant professionals and executives

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Written By: Elainey Bass

It’s no doubt that HBCUs have shaped hopeful students into brilliant professionals and executives. But for some individuals, the desire to go to an HBCU did not stem from representation at their high schools. This leaves our Black students to educate themselves on institutions that were created with us in mind.  Depending on the area, some HBCUs are simply out of reach for prospective students to even visit. To combat this, there have been multiple tours and experiences, created by HBCU alumni, that aim to give students the opportunity to be exposed to our beloved institutions. 

HBCU Making Moves Tour

The HBCU Making Moves Tour was created by Carl Ray, a Tuskegee University alum who started something big after initially exposing four boys to his alma mater. Since then, this organization has continued to give high schoolers and community college scholars that same experience. The HBCU Making Moves Tour is all inclusive and gives students the taste of independence that college offers. This upcoming fall, they are organizing a tour for Tuskegee’s 100th Homecoming that will include stops at Alabama State University and the AUC (Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Clark Atlanta University). 

Elevation of Excellence HBCU Tour 

Created by Clark Atlanta alum Davona Brown, the Elevation of Excellence HBCU Tour gives Chicago natives the opportunity to be exposed to higher education. Aside from high schoolers, this tour also offers students up to the age of 24 to attend if they are enrolled in an educational program. Aside from the tour, participants also receive lifelong mentors that go beyond the education/career advice, Coming up, the Elevation of Excellence HBCU Tour has planned a fall and spring tour for the upcoming school year with only 54 slots available for each. While the Spring Break tour does include more stops to HBCUs, the fall tour will be attending Homecoming at University of Arkansas Pine Bluff. 

Shawn Carter Foundation

The Shawn Carter Foundation is a non-profit organization created by Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and his mom Gloria Carter. This organization provides multiple educational programs, and opportunities for students that may come from difficult backgrounds. More specifically, the HBCU tour gives high school students in Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York the chance to explore higher education at 11 different HBCUs. Students that take advantage of this tour will also attend workshops that will prepare them for the college admissions process. While information on the next tour is undisclosed on the website, one can reach out to a representative via email. 

Deciding on where to attend for the next four years after high school can be daunting for some. While for others, the thought of higher education is nonexistent. Personally, I can say that HBCUs were rarely brought up in conversation with my teachers and counselors, and I was left to research everything on my own. Because of this, I ended up choosing an HBCU, and it has been one of the best decisions I have made in my life. These HBCU tours will only continue to bridge the gap between curious highschoolers and the plethora of opportunities that await them at HBCUs. 

For more information on other HBCU tours/programs, visit https://hbculifestyle.com/hbcu-college-tours/

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