By Reg Chapman
Making sure young people have access to a quality education has been the mission of one St. Paul woman for more than 35 years.
Jo Ann Clark founded the Thinking College Early Fair and, for the past 20 years, she has taken more than 1,000 young Black students on a tour of Historically Black Colleges and Universities or HBCUs.
“I want them to understand how important an education is and that education can be a four-year, two-year, trade school or they may go into service as long as they are doing something they like,” said Clark.
Progressive Baptist Church in St. Paul partnered with Clark to establish the annual tour.
“I want them to see people who look just like them in leadership and them don’t get that in St. Paul you can go to school for 12 years and don’t see anybody who look like them,” Clark said.
Clark builds excitement in each student, who all have their own reasons for going on the tour.
“When I get to the campuses, I hope that I see eye-opening opportunities for college and for sports, and get to meet new people and find my space,” said Kaya Williams, a junior at DeLaSalle High School.
Another student, Carmine Perzichilli said, “I’m considering Tuskegee because they have a very good tech program, and FAMU because the culture there is awesome.”
Clark hopes students experience culture the way only an HBCU can present it.
“They come back knowing who they are, they know their history, and part of going to an HBCU, the first thing they do is they teach them their history,” Clark said.
Before the tour begins, students gather in the sanctuary of the church to learn about the HBCU journey of some community leaders.
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter graduated from Central High School in 1997. Months later, he stepped onto the campus of Florida A&M University.
“When I stepped foot on this university, it was like I transported. I felt like I just transported suddenly into a dimension that like spoke my home language into the dimension I was meant to be at, and I was astounded at the incredibly amazing, brilliant people who I met,” said Carter.
Clark hopes these 65 students going on the tour will have the same experience.
“You are going to visit institutions that have empowered the Black community, dating all the way back to just after the Civil War,” said Rev. Dr. Melvin G. Miller.
After praying together, the students get on buses and tour several HBCUs.
Their experiences, they say, were priceless.
Not only has Clark taken students on these tours, but she’s also raised more than $1 million in scholarships and sent care packages and college support funds to kids working on their degrees.
All three of Clark’s children graduated from HBCUs. Her daughter will take over duties are chairperson of the Black college tour.
HBCUs are not just for Black students. In 2022, non-Black students made up 24% of enrollment at HBCUs, a significant rise compared to 15% in 1976.