{"id":113157,"date":"2026-01-26T19:55:37","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T19:55:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/113157\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T19:55:37","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T19:55:37","slug":"staten-island-hbcu-experience-2026-works-on-opening-doors-for-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/113157\/","title":{"rendered":"Staten Island HBCU Experience 2026 works on opening doors for students"},"content":{"rendered":"

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Curtis High School buzzed with music, conversation and possibility on Saturday as students poured in to meet representatives from more than 20 Historically Black Colleges and Universities during the 2026 Staten Island HBCU Experience College Fair.<\/p>\n

This marks the 16th year for the fair\u2014organized by founder and executive director Tammy Renae Greer\u2014which draws students from across the city and beyond. <\/p>\n

It gives the opportunity for high school students and their families to explore academic programs, campus life, scholarships and more. There was also music played by DJ TyStorm and a live band to keep people entertained. <\/p>\n

\"HBCUBand playing in Curtis High School cafeteriaFaith Archibald<\/p>\n

More than 20 HBCU\u2019s were represented at the event, including Howard University, Hampton University, Morehouse College, Tuskegee University and Lincoln University. College representatives were on hand to provide information, answer questions, and guidance through making a decision about their colleges. <\/p>\n

For several attendees, the fair was a chance to engage with schools they may have never considered as an option.<\/p>\n

In addition to learning about academics and student life, students were provided with further resources about financial aid and scholarship opportunities. Workshops based on college applications and funding options was a way to provide families with relief while preparing for a higher education.<\/p>\n

\"HBCUIsaiah Williams, Virginia State University graduate and assistant host of the night.Faith Archibald<\/p>\n

\u201cInformation on HBCU\u2019s is very limited. And I feel like society is trying to make college irrelevant or make college seem as if it\u2019s bad education. A lot of people don\u2019t know about HBCU\u2019s because it\u2019s a very underrepresented community,\u201d said Isaiah Williams, a graduate from Virginia State University, who assisted in hosting the event. <\/p>\n

New York Edge, which supports underserved youth in the city, brought a group of middle and high school students to the fair.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to come here for two reasons,\u201d said Doris Harper-Brown, who represented the New York Edge. \u201cOne, they\u2019ve got to see it to believe it and to want it. And a lot of times colleges or universities is hard for them, not because they don\u2019t have the grades to make it. It\u2019s because they don\u2019t see anyone who looks like them. So bringing them here was intentional.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HBCUNew York Edge students gatheredFaith Archibald\"HBCUStaten Island S.T.R.O.N.G, an organization that provides high school students with annual college tours. (Maurice Hyde, Jennifer Watkins, Arthur Martin, and Christy Ekpe)Faith Archibald<\/p>\n

Attendees were also able to connect with Staten Island S.T.R.O.N.G (Standing Together Reaching Our Necessary Goal)<\/a>, an organization that provides high school students with annual college tours during spring break. Representatives Jennifer Watkins, Maurice Hyde, Arthur Martin and Christy Ekpe were present to share information about the program and its impact on students.<\/p>\n

College graduates attended the event to support their alma maters, including Kiara Nicole Brown, a 2023 Howard University graduate with a degree in pre-law legal communication and a minor in political science. <\/p>\n

\u201cOftentimes I come back to Staten Island to give people a lot of insight, like how I was able to get a $55,000 scholarship when I was an undergrad,\u201d said Brown. <\/p>\n

Other graduates included Soyica Littman, member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. He said he was accepted to Lincoln University during his earlier years at the HBCU Career Fair at Curtis High School. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really here to just give back and be the same kind of influence to the next person,\u201d said Littman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Curtis High School buzzed with music, conversation and possibility on Saturday as students poured…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":113158,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-113157","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-staten-island","12":"tag-staten-island-headlines","13":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}