The Willie and Aikisha Colon Foundation made a stop in the Bronx over the weekend, reaching out to potential students about exploring higher education with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
Students were able to check out and connect with colleges, as well as apply and look into scholarship opportunities during the event on March 16 at the BronxWorks Betances Community Center in the South Bronx. The Willie and Aikisha Colon Foundation works to foster local growth through economic development, education preparation, health and athletic programming, and more.
“We decided to do an HBCU college fair here in the Bronx because there has not been one done and for me that was very shocking,” Aikisha Colon, executive director and founder of the foundation, told the Bronx Times.
According to Bronx County data, Black students made up 26% of all kids enrolled in the borough’s public schools in the 2022-2023 academic year. The only borough with a higher proportion of Black students is Brooklyn at 33% — followed by Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island at 22%, 16%, and 12% respectively.
Originally from Jackson, Mississippi, Aikisha Colon had always known about HBCUs. Her husband Willie Colon, a Bronx native himself, had only heard of them through his college fraternity when the pair first started dating, Aikisha Colon said.
“HBCUs are known for nurturing and providing a stable environment for those who are at most risk of not entering college … that’s the borough of the Bronx,” said Aikisha Colon. “The Bronx is the poorest borough in New York City and with that being said, these are the students, the teenagers, that we need to target.”
Willie Colon said most of his peers growing up were focused on attending SUNY, CUNY, or other well-known schools, and that HBCUs weren’t common knowledge. But, he said, these schools end up being almost like another family.
“I think we just want to promote a different outlook and make them realize it’s not a step backward or out, it’s a step forward,” Willie Colon said about attending an HBCU.
The college fair kicked off with a panel discussion from three prominent alumni, who spoke about how they were exposed to historically Black schools, their experiences at those institutions, how they shaped their lives, and the deep community that thrives at HBCUs. They even delved into smaller subtopics, such as their thoughts on party culture.
Some panelists spoke about how a lot of the college-bound messaging focuses on admittance into predominately white institutions — especially the elite schools like Harvard, Yale and Columbia. Others remarked that their guidance counselors didn’t talk about HBCUs during the time they were planning for college.
Kechnaika Felix, a high school sophomore, addressed the panel and spoke about becoming interested in HBCUs.
“I wasn’t interested in HBCUs until I realized some of my teachers went to them. I want to go there because … they have the same type of hair as me, talk like me,” Felix said. “I want to be a part of something that I know that I can be better.”
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