Press Releases
April 16, 2011PUSH Excel Takes High School Students on 13th Annual Bus Tour of Historically Black Colleges
CHICAGO (April 12, 2011)--This year marks the PUSH for Excellence 13h Annual HBCU Tour. April 16th through April 23rd one hundred promising high school students will leave the city of Chicago and spend their spring break traveling the East Coast and parts of the South visiting several historically black colleges and universities. Participating students will get a sense of what college life is like and interact with students and faculty members on campus.
“Our mission has always encompassed creating opportunities for young people,” said Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr., founder and president of Rainbow Push Coalition. “We nurture their minds into seeing that there is a world outside of their hometowns.” Most of the students are Chicagoland residents but some will come from as far as Los Angeles, California.
The tour will make the following stops:
Sunday, April 17th
Second Baptist Church—Columbus, OH
Monday, April 18thNational Geographic Museum—Washington, DC
Howard University—Washington, DC
Tuesday, April 19thBennett College—Greensboro, NC
North Carolina A&T State University—Greensboro, NC
Johnson C. Smith University—Charlotte, NC
Wednesday, April 20thClark Atlanta University—Atlanta, GA
Morehouse College—Atlanta, GA
Spelman College—Atlanta, GA
Piedmont Park—Atlanta, GA
Thursday, April 21stTuskegee University—Tuskegee, AL
Alabama State University—Montgomery, AL
Friday, April 22ndBirmingham Civil Rights Institute—Birmingham, AL
Over the past twelve years, the annual tour has provided hundreds of area high school students with the prospect to visit and experience over 100 traditionally black colleges and universities throughout the country.
PUSH for Excellence is committed to exposing underserved young people to the world of opportunities that exist outside their communities. This event is part of a major effort to promote increased minority college attendance through early exposure and preparation.
“The purpose of this tour is to expose our children to great institutions that offer a nurturing, protective and productive environment,” said Jason Robinson, national youth director for the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and one of the tour organizers. “Exposure is the key to making informed, intelligent and meaningful decisions.”
While on the tour, students will participate in many workshops focusing on leadership, personal development and academics with the emphasis on college preparation.
“I really enjoyed myself last year,” said Anthony Land, a junior at Rich Central High School who attended the tour last year. “I am participating again this year because I am still undecided about where I want to go to school. I hope to gain more knowledge about some of the other schools and make a few more friends.”
PUSH for Excellence will collaborate this year with the Ride for CHANGE-Ride for HOPE Foundation, an awareness campaign that culminates with a motorcycle event in local communities across the nation. A motorcycle brigade will escort the two busloads of students to Lake Shore Drive and receive them upon return.
“The fact that in some communities only 30-40% of black males are graduating high school calls for action on the part of everyone,” said Terry Hardy, national director for the organization and motorcyclist. “That’s not a black issue or white issue. It’s an American issue for which all we can become engaged in helping reverse the trend.”
The tour gives students insight into a range of institutions that they may not have considered attending without this opportunity. Historically black colleges and universities have produced over half of the nation’s African-Americans in professional organizations, more than 50% of the national African-American public school teachers and 70% of African-American dentist and physicians.
The Rainbow PUSH Coalition is a progressive organization protecting, defending and expanding civil rights to improve economic and educational opportunity. The organization is headquartered at 930 E. 50th St. in Chicago. For more information about the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, please visit www.rainbowpush.org or call (773) 373-3366
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