Recruiters from 21 historically black colleges make their financial offers to the area's top African-American seniors

By Jodi S. Cohen
Tribune higher education reporter
Published January 14, 2007

Like an athlete on draft day, 17-year-old Sharde Hameed waited to hear her name, carefully sipping ginger ale to calm her nerves.

"Sharde Hameed!" called out a recruiter from Alabama A&M. The Morgan Park High School senior stood.



"You are eligible for a FULL academic scholarship!" he boomed into the microphone.

That's tuition. Fees. Housing. Even textbooks.

She gasped and giggled, somehow at the same time. Her grandmother threw her hands to the sky, then covered her eyes as tears welled in the corners.

And the 200 other students sitting around tables in the Embassy Suites' ballroom, top African-African seniors from Chicago-area high schools, in suits and velvet dresses and fresh haircuts, clapped and shouted to celebrate the first full scholarship awarded Friday night--but certainly not the last.

One by one, recruiters from 21 historically black colleges went to the podium to call out student names and the money each could receive, ranging from full scholarships to enough for textbooks for a year.

The event, a mix of pep rally and game show that was unlike almost any other college recruiting event in the nation, gave the admissions officers a chance to highlight how much financial aid the students are eligible for based on grades and test scores.

For teenagers more accustomed to banquets for athletes, the night was a recognition that all their years of Shakespeare and science were worth it.

"I can't believe it," said Hameed, who has a 3.7 grade-point average, scored a 28 on the ACT and will be the first in her family to go to college. "I'm honored to be in a room full of people like me, who have worked hard, studied hard, earned good grades."

Before the night was over, Hameed would rack up an impressive list of offers, each renewable for four years: Florida A&M, $7,623; Alabama A&M, $12,500; Xavier University, $12,700; Hampton University, $13,358; Kentucky State University, $17,500.

Across the ballroom, her classmate Delrio Vanzallas text-messaged "Congrats." He would later get a $6,000 offer from Jackson State University.

The scholarship reception, sponsored by an organization affiliated with Trinity United Church of Christ, was first held three years ago.

Last year, college recruiters offered $4.3 million; of the 200 students who attended, nearly 170 enrolled at one of the colleges represented at the event, said Trinity Higher Education Corporation spokeswoman Pamela Davies.

"This opens up a whole new world for them," said Trinity's Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., a graduate of historically black Howard University.

To be invited to the event, students with a minimum 3.0 grade-point average and ACT score of 21 were selected by their high school counselors. The first 200 students who RSVPed got in, Davies said.

When they arrived at the ballroom, students picked five colleges and filled out an index card with their personal information, GPA and test score for each school. As students nibbled on brownies, college representatives sorted through the cards, matched students with scholarships, and announced the offers.

"When you dangle the scholarship out there, it acts as an incentive for them to move forward and actually apply," said Xavier University recruiter Bryan Carraway.

That's where the dinner helps the historically black colleges, which compete not only with each other but with predominantly white colleges for top-achieving minority students.

There are 89 four-year historically black colleges and universities in the country, but their share of the African-American students in higher education has been slipping.

While 18.4 percent of black college students enrolled in black colleges in 1976, only 12.9 percent of them did so in 2001, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

"Everybody is after them. Everybody," said Morris Hall of Alabama A&M.

Recruiters said that if the students' grades and test scores are verified, they will receive the scholarships offered Friday, which are also available to other qualified students who apply.

That means best friends Cidimah Gray and Chondolyn Floyd, Crane Tech High School seniors, most likely will be going to Philander Smith University in Arkansas. They already had been admitted, so when the recruiter announced that they would get full scholarships, it was as if they won the lottery.

They turned to each other, high-fived, and hugged. Five minutes later, they were still in disbelief. Gray turned to Floyd: "Did that just really happen

Great and beautiful.

is there a list of who was offered what and from where?

This is soooooo wonderful!! I wish that this effort would be replicated nationwide.