Hundreds of students from California and across the West Coast converged on the Florida A&M University recruiting table at the Black College Expo in Los Angeles, on Saturday.
The event was held as FAMU is seeing a record number of applications from first-time-in-college students.
“It’s impressive to see the number of students coming to the FAMU table. All day long there has been a crowd,” said President Larry Robinson, Ph.D., as he stood near the FAMU table greeting parents and prospective students. “Our staff, our students, and alumni are working really hard to tell them the FAMU story. It makes a huge difference because being here to opens the doors to students who otherwise would not have learned about Florida A&M University.”
The FAMU table was staffed by the Division of Student Affairs employees and Los Angeles-based alum. Among those present were Vice President for Student Affairs William E. Hudson, Jr.; Ruthie Little-Berry, associate vice president for Enrollment Management & Student Success; Hugh Durham, director of Admission & Enrollment Management; Charmane Caldwell, Ph.D., director of Student Access FAMU-FSU College of Engineering; Student Government Association (SGA) President Zachary C. Bell, SGA Vice President Makira Burns; Miss FAMU Aliya Everett; and Vice President/Athletic Director Tiffani-Dawn Sykes. The staff and students were assisted by alumni volunteers who live in the Los Angeles area spreading the word on the merits and benefits of a FAMU education.
Organized by the National College Resources Foundation (NCRF), the Black College Expo is a series of college recruitment fairs held in cities across the country. The Los Angeles event, which was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center, attracted more than one hundred universities and colleges. It is a favorite recruiting venue for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) seeking to attract Black students since there are no HBCUs west of Oklahoma.
“The Black College Expo is special because of the number of students gathered in one place. Here you’re going to see 10,000 plus students who are eligible to get into an HBCU and you also get to collaborate with other HBCUs on why HBCUs are important particularly on the West Coast because there are no HBCUs in the area, so this Expo has become very important,” Hudson said. “It has become larger every year, and it makes the opportunity for these students that much more special; they can actually attend FAMU at a lower cost than staying in-state and going to school in California.”
