“Some kids aren’t raised to believe that college is for them. Whether it’s an irresponsible counselor who is telling them that their grades are killing their chances for college or their parents, who don’t know any better, a lot of kids give up before they even try,” says Bob Whitehead, founder of College Round-Up.

Whitehead and his cousin, Fay Smith, who serves as Program Director of College Round-Up started the program in 2002 to serve local neighborhood youth and relatives in their hometown of Tarboro, North Carolina. In less than ten years, the program has helped over 300 students enroll and graduate from college and has helped students outside the state of North Carolina, including students from the east of the river area in Washington DC. Whitehead recalls personally connecting with counselors at DC’s Ballou and Anacostia High Schools to invite students to participate.

“So many kids up north have never heard of an Historically Black College and Univeristy (HBCU),, especially the ones that are down south,” says Whitehead. “The schools I deal with are the schools that care about the children. Any kid from Ballou or any school in DC who wants to go to college, I will get them into an HBCU without a doubt.”
And Whitehead stands by his word.

This past March, College Round-up brought together over twenty-five HBCUs, including Allen University, Shaw University, Coppin State University and Johnson C. Smith University to Edgecombe Community College’s auditorium in North Carolina. They then invited students from Washington DC, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Silver Spring, various parts of California and Atlanta to the auditorium where they were interviewed on site by the representatives from the different colleges. At-large councilmember Kwame Brown sponsored two buses of students from Anacostia and Ballou High School and traveled to the event site to participate as an opening speaker for the event. He shared his own personal journey to college.

“Kwame tells this story better than I do,” says Brown’s campaign manager Mike Price, “but he had a 1.9 grade point average out of high school. Programs like College Round-Up helped him reach his goal of attending college and graduating from Talladega College in Alabama.”

At the College Round-Up this year, nineteen students from Washington DC were offered college admission to two or more colleges each, some of them receiving full scholarship packages.

“I decided on attending an HBCU because of, not just the band, but the educational opportunity,” says Ballou High School senior DeAngelo Copeland.

Copeland, who was accepted to five HBCUs, but settled on Johnson C. Smith has a 3.3 cumulative grade point average, is part of Ballou’s popular marching band and is an assistant in Councilmember Marion Barry’s office. He attended the College Round-Up in March because he still wanted to learn what his options were.

“I went to the College Round-Up and learned about schools I had never heard of before,” says Copeland.  “I had been accepted to Johnson C. Smith before I went down there, but after my visit to the Round-Up, I was sure that I wanted to go there.”

History of HBCUs
Despite the excitement expressed by students like Copeland, historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have struggled since their inception to prove their relevance to the mainstream.  During the days of Jim Crow laws, some people questioned the reasoning behind educating, what some believe, was an inferior race of people. Even within the black community, the debate ensued over the logic in promoting education and intellectualism over vocation and skill-learning. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Dubois were the face of this debate.  However, the need for higher institutes of learning demonstrated itself over time.

According to the US Department of Education, HBCUs currently enroll 24 percent of all African American students in four-year colleges, with approximately 15 percent of all master’s and other advanced degrees earned by African American men and women in these institutions.  Although most HBCUs are four year institutions in the southern United States, there are HBCUs in 19 states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands.

“A lot of HBCUs make college possible for kids who otherwise wouldn’t have a chance,” says Whitehead. Whitehead believes that some students are written off as not being college material when they may not have been encouraged or challenged in school. He also thinks that adults often have a tendency to neglect or reach out to students who may look or dress a certain way.

“We write people off because they don’t meet our criteria, but a lot of times, we are at the place we are because someone gave us a chance. I say that it’s important to know when to look past your stereotypes and give back to your community.” Whitehead believes that HBCUs do that job best.

Recently, the National Center for Education Statistics reported that in 1976, HBCUs graduated approximately 35 percent of all black college graduates. This number had fallen to 20 percent by 2001, and as of 2003, 14 percent of all African American students in higher education were enrolled in the 105 nationally recognized HBCUs.

Despite falling attendance records, Darrice Jackson who attends North Carolina Agricultural & Technical University says an HBCU was the best choice for her. With a 3.78 GPA when she attended Friendship Edison Collegiate Academy, Jackson received seven scholarships and a choice of colleges vying for her attendance.

“I had originally planned on attending the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, but my heart led me to A & T. I think it was a better choice for me,” the college freshman says. She believes that A & T was the better choice for her because of the smaller campus size, the proximity of the academic buildings to her on-campus housing assignment and the small class sizes.

She says, “I know that I would not find any of this at a larger school like Chapel Hill.”

Veronica Nolan, Executive Director of Urban Alliance, a college preparatory youth program, supported several members of Urban Alliance to attend the March College Round-Up. Urban Alliance graduates have attended a predominate number of HBCUs such as UDC, the prestigious Spelman College, the iconic Howard University, and the progressive campuses of Morgan State University, Bowie State University, and the University of Maryland at Eastern Shore.

“It’s essential that youth set education as a top priority on their own, rather than just being told to by adults,” Nolan says.  “They should own their education, and value it as a way to better themselves, their life, and their future.”

Nolan asserts that success begins with taking challenging classes, learning or developing study skills that work for them, and taking advantage of all the opportunities that exist for them in DC - such as application fee waivers, free SAT classes, internship programs, and tutoring assistance.

“College is possible for everyone,” says Whitehead, “it’s just up to the students to believe that it can happen.”

To learn more about the College Round-Up program, contact Fay Smith and Bob Whitehead at 252-823-8129.