On March 9th, Black Young Professionals of Detroit supported Detroit College Day, a Detroit College Access Network (DCAN) sponsored conference held annually for Detroit High School students. The purpose of this conference is to get students excited about college and other post-secondary opportunities that are available to them.
The conference was held at the Wayne County Community College District campus on Fort Street and featured 14 Detroit high schools, bringing well over 700 students. The event featured a college fair as well as various panel discussions and college informational/preparatory workshops. The fair and discussions were led by local organizations such as MSU Advising Corps, AdviseMI College Advisors, Detroit HBCU Network, TRIO services, United Negro College Fund, and featured local colleges and universities including Wayne State university, Wayne County Community College District, University of Michigan Dearborn, and University of Michigan Ann Arbor.
Detroit College Day took great effort in promoting Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Throughout the numerous workshops and breakout sessions students were able to attend, the importance of the HBCU was highlighted, especially, in nurturing and educating of prominent African American scholars.
Black Young Professionals of Detroit Mentorship Program was also involved in the event, leading two workshops:
- “Surviving College 101”, where students were able to learn of some of the struggles and obstacles they might encounter through their collegiate career and what tips, tools and techniques they can employ to help them succeed and overcome such obstacles.
- “Group Talk: The HBCU Experience”, where Black Young Professionals’ HBCU alumni mentors shared their experiences and debunked myths about attending HBCU’s, and answered student questions.
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- Auditorium area full of students
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- Surviving College 101
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- The HBCU Experience
Additionally, Black Young Professionals was honored to further support Detroit College Day by fortifying the volunteer effort led by United Way of Southeast Michigan. We deployed a small team of our members as room moderators for the workshops, and as way finders to assist students in making their way through the event.
We are thankful to all the mentors and volunteers who contributed to providing a great educational experience for students in the Detroit community, and we look forward to continuing our support of youth in Detroit through events like Detroit College Day.