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Osceola County School District Will Connect Students, Parents With More Than 30 HBCUs In New Virtual Initiative

Photo: Element5Digital
Photo: Element5Digital

Osceola County School District is rolling out its “All-In on HBCUs” initiative on Tuesday aimed at getting more students to attend Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Thirty-two HBCUs will be featured in the two-week long program hosted by the Osceola, Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach county school districts. 

Students and their parents can participate in a virtual introduction to HBCUs from 3 until 4 pm on Jan. 19.

Then every day between Jan. 19 through Jan. 28 families can attend virtual one-hour information sessions or go on virtual tours of all the participating college campuses. 

Osceola County School District’s Coordinator of College and Career Counseling Anthony Cook says he asked recent graduates why they chose an HBCU. 

“And I think it was a resounding: wanting to be around Black and brown students, Black and brown educators, as we know that tends to be an issue here in our public K-12 system, or challenge not necessarily an issue but a challenge. And just being able to be entrenched in the culture and the history that’s behind that.”

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Cook says HBCUs help all students achieve. 

“It’s not just for Black and Brown students, it's really for all students. But I mean the emphasis is for Black and brown [students] just because specifically the social injustices and the inequalities that currently exist in our system as it is right now.”

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Registration is required to participate. All events are free to students enrolled in the district. 

Danielle Prieur is WMFE's education reporter.