In 2004, the Chicago Public Schools, along with Siemens Corporation, sponsored the first HBCU scholarship fair for CPS students who generally have a 3.0 and 20 on the ACT. I was just selected as president in 2004, but attended the next year and have attended every year since then. This is always a good event as 300 to 400 students, parents, grandparents, counselors and teachers holler and scream when they receive their scholarship awards.

This year 24 HBCUs participated. I was the only president, and the only one who has been at everyone one over the past 4 years. I like to meet the students and parents, and since many don't know us, I have to work harder to compete with the "brand name" schools that get lots of applications, but are not progressive at all! I told them to check out the schools and see who has blogs by the president, or a president on Facebook. That ends it right there.

After all the schools make the announcements, we spend several hours meeting students getting additional applications. This is always the game changer for me because every year a student says they didn't know about us, but now wanted to know more. Every year, I have gotten students from this event- very good students, so it is worth the trip (especially since Siemens and CPS cover the costs).

I told the students I would blog about the night- and I am keeping my word.

The Prez