Public Employee Press

College fair features Gates scholarships

Will I go to college? What will make my application stand out? How will I pay for tuition and books?

About 70 students from sixth-graders to high school seniors got answers to their questions about college Dec. 9 at DC 37’s college fair. DC 37 and the Extraordinary Black Men Initiative of the United Negro Scholarship Fund, sponsored the fair and for the first time presented information on the $1 billion Gates Minority Scholars program UNCF administers.

UNCF’s Valerie Coles-Davis and alumni from Morehouse, Spellman, Dillard, Tuskegee and other historically Black colleges introduced the college experience — from application to graduation — to DC 37 parents and their children and grandchildren.

“I came to find out about scholarships and grants,” said 11th-grader DeShawn Armbrister. Planning to apply for admission to New York University and several other colleges next fall, he and his mother, Tonyah Armbrister, a L. 768 Sr. Public Health Advisor, asked lots of questions on how to qualify for a Gates scholarship.

“I am not sure which college I want to go to, but I do want to go and I want to go to an historically black college,” said Kai Sinclair, a junior at Xavian High School in Brooklyn.

For the second consecutive year,DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts has been named chair to spearhead the New York labor fundraising campaign for UNCF. Roberts said the collaborative ­college fair is to help members and their children reach for higher education and the opportunities UNCF offers.

UNCF is the nation’s largest, oldest, most successful and most comprehensive minority higher education assistance organization. In its 61-year history, UNCF has raised more than $2.1 billion to provide scholarships for 300,000 students at 950 institutions and operating funds and technology enhancement for 39 historically black colleges and universities.

Students interested in the Gates scholarships must apply as high school seniors, have at least a 3.3 average on a scale of 4.0, meet the Federal Pell grant qualifications, and be active in community service, explained Carlos Adrian, a research analyst for the Gates Millennium Foundation. Recipients will receive full tuition to attend the college of their choice from freshman year through graduate school.

The UNCF and the Gates Foundation help students of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. The deadline for high school seniors to apply for Gates scholarships is Jan. 12. DC 37’s next college fair is Feb. 10 Family Day, part of the Black History Month celebration. For more information, please call DC 37 Program Director Frances M. Curtis at 212-815-1500. To learn more about UNCF, visit its Web site, www.uncf.org. To learn about the Bill and Melinda Gates scholarships visit: www.gmsp.org.

— DSW