The Center for Black Culture and Student Success held the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Caravan College Fair for on Wednesday Oct. 29 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. to encourage students to meet with representatives to better prepare and inform students how they can get accepted into different HBCU schools.

The Center for Black Culture and Student Success is a program on campus that creates an environment for student success and cultural enrichment for all Black students, faculty and staff. The HBCU Caravan College Fair serves as a platform for Black Mt.SAC students to explore HBCUs outside of the typical CSU and UC colleges Mt. SAC college students usually transfer to. This event allowed students to visit various booths to inform them on how they can successfully transfer from community college to an HBCU. Students were also able to play various games, listen to a live DJ and connect with other students.

“HBCUs were the first opportunity that black folks were allowed to get an education which turned into opportunities for Indigenous folks and Latinx folks,” Mercedes Cunningham the program coordinator of The Center of Black Culture and Student Success said.“They [HBCUs] really are some of the bedrock of higher education for marginalized communities across the country.”

Cunningham said she hopes students learn from the event that HBCUs offer transfer opportunities especially in the state of California. She also shared that students could get accepted on the spot at one of these events due to the California Community College Chancellors Office transfer guaranteed pipeline program for over 45 HBCUs, 20 of which attended the event.

Cunningham spoke further on why she believes HBCUs are beneficial to students.

“Going to an HBCU means that students can get an incredible education without having to worry about stigmas … these are really incredible institutions.”

As students went around asking the representatives questions about what their colleges offer, they were able to find out which college is for them. Some students didn’t know which universities offered their desired programs and were able to have one on one conversations about their programs.

“I found some [colleges] that were good runner ups, but I haven’t found the exact one that is exactly where I want to be,” Kaila Kibb, sociology major said.

The Center for Black Culture and Student Success is located in the CBCSS Lounge, building 6 room 140. For more information on upcoming events, and to keep up with their on campus events, their website has calendars and contact information.