BALTIMORE, Md — In 1997, Lawrence William noticed a problem. Schools were only telling students about certain colleges and universities.
“They expose many of our children to the local college to Notre Dame to Maryland to Loyola, but that HBCU part was missing," says Lawrence William.
So, he created ‘Caring For Young Minds’,. Every year for the last 26 years, they take students on trips during spring break to visit HBCUs along the East Coast.
“These children today are children that have to see, touch, and feel, and exposure is the greatest way to educate a child today on any subject matter that you’re trying to teach them.”
Junior Kelly Jenkins is one of 160 students taking the week-long tour.
She says she is excited to see a variety of Historically Black Colleges and Universities because her mother went to one.
“I feel like being with people that look like you and act like you is very influential and beneficial for you in the long run rather than being somewhere where you feel like you’re out of place or uncomfortable," says Kelly Jenkins.
Jenkins says going on a trip with other students is also a different experience from visiting with family.
“Being able to tour so many schools is going to give a better insight [into] what college life is actually going to be like, and you’re not going just by yourself or with your parents, you're going with kids who are your age, who look like you, so you really get an idea of what it’s really going to be like," she says.
Not every student knows what an HBCU is.
“I wanted to expand my views of other schools, you know, what they have to offer, what they don’t, how big [the] campus is, and what I can do at that school," says Raheem Adeyiga
Adeyiga’s family is from Nigeria. He says he didn’t know much about Historically Black Colleges and Universities growing up.
“I recently actually got introduced to HBCUs, like maybe my freshman year of high school.”
He tells WMAR he is thrilled to go and already has a college in mind, North Carolina A&T.
“It was very interesting to see people like me go to schools like that," says Adeyiga.
He wants to be an engineer, so he hopes to find an HBCU with the best program.
He says it's important for all students to go on college tours as early as possible.
“It could teach you, like where you want to go, maybe how do you make friends in the system? How do you like the place," he says.
William is not only exposing students to more college options, but he is also hoping to change their outlook on their education.
“Sometimes just exposing a child to a different optic. They come back to school, and they change," says William.
The HBCU tour starts Saturday. They will kick the tour off by visiting Bowie State University and Howard. Then HBCUs in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Virginia before returning home next weekend.
