College Presidents Encourage African American Students

The seven college presidents and administrators who gathered at the Crenshaw Christian Center Saturday to deliver a message to about 800 students and their families left no type of persuasion untried.

With oratory and statistics, humor and gravitas, they constructed a sophisticated argument that was simple at its core: You can go to college and you can succeed.

The meeting, called the President’s Forum, was arranged by College Bound, a nonprofit preparatory program that for 12 years has used Saturday classes and summer programs to help gird mostly African American students for the rigors of academic life.

Founded in 1990 by Johnnie and Andy Savoy, two parents who grew frustrated while helping their son enroll in college, the program now serves more than 600 students, according to Johnnie Savoy.

“I consider it a calling,” she said.

Although open to the public, Saturday’s forum provided a chance for 42 graduates of the program -- some of whom haven’t had many free Saturdays in years -- to meet with men and women who hold the keys to institutes of higher learning.

“It’s a really good feeling to know that they care enough about us and respect us enough to come and talk to us firsthand,” said Todd Hawkins, 17.

It also allowed the administrators to extol the value of education, encourage academic achievement and occasionally boast about their schools to prospective students.

“You have to be able to tell your story so these students can make an informed choice,” said Norman Francis, president of Xavier University of Louisiana, the nation’s only historically black Catholic university.

Winston Doby, vice president for educational outreach at UCLA, said students would benefit from the experience of being wooed by people like him.

“It illustrates how many different kinds of opportunities there are for students in this country,” Doby said.

There was high praise from both students and administrators for the College Bound program.

“It’s like a whole community trying to help the advancement of a student,” said Raymond Bryant-Hall, 18.

A senior at Palisades High School, Bryant has clearly benefited from five years in the program, according to his mother, Gail Hall.

“This program saved me from a nervous breakdown,” said Hall, 47, recalling how her son at first resisted, then eventually embraced the Saturday classes.

Jamal Kinney, 17, has been in the program since 10th grade. Now a senior at Verbum Dei High School in Los Angeles, he is considering enrolling at USC, Loyola Marymount University or Florida A&M;, where he plans to double-major in accounting and business administration.

“I used to think about basketball as a way to get into college,” said Kinney, who is co-captain of his school’s team. “Now I think of education as a way to get into college.”