Springfield, IL (WAND) – Every year, the Springfield Urban League takes a group of high schoolers to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in a different part of the United States. This spring, they took 34 high schoolers to Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia.
Although the Urban League has taken this trip for 20 years, this is the first time they have had students accepted to universities on the spot.
“The instant acceptance on the tour is definitely a first for us,” said Dylan Flowers, manager of youth leadership and development programs at the Springfield Urban League. “We’ve had plenty of kids fall in love with campuses and apply and go there, but we haven’t had any get accepted right there on the spot, so that’s what made this year really special.”
Six students were accepted on the spot to Tuskegee University or Tennessee State University. One was offered a $10,000 scholarship in addition to his acceptance.
“I was really excited to see I’m not the only person who wants to succeed in my future,” said Lawrence Jones, a HBCU tour participant. “And I’m here with other people who wanted to see.”
Jones was accepted to Tuskegee University when he visited on the tour. While he’s been planning to go into welding, he wants to start in that program and then attend Tuskegee University for business. He never saw a school like Tuskegee as a possibility, and neither did Annastasia Roby, who was also accepted on the spot.
“When I got to Tuskegee, it felt like home,” Roby said. “After the tour, I decided to go to college in the South because I felt like, since I got this feeling that it felt like home, and I might as well go home.”
Like some other members of the tour, Dolly Billups had a very limited knowledge of the schools they were visiting. But her connection to Tuskegee University was so deep upon visiting, she cried when the admissions office accepted her application.
“I knew about the Tuskegee program and the airmen because I just did a project on it before I went on the tour,” Billups said. “It was so amazing to not have to wait. The anticipation probably would have killed me.”
In addition to learning more about college options, the teens connected. With several hoping to attend the same schools or schools in the same state, the connections will be helpful in the future.
“I like that we can network and get connections to help in the future,” said Brian Kirkham, a tour participant. “It really inspires me to want to go to college more than just working a job after high school.”
The Springfield Urban League is already planning its HBCU tour for next year.
