First-of-its-kind partnership in California helps Fresno’s Black students succeed in college

The culturally-rich, life-changing experience of getting an education from a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) is one that California students often only hear about.

The closest HBCU sits in Texas and most are farther south, meaning students must go thousands of miles away to even learn about the schools firsthand.

Each of Fresno Unified School District’s seven high schools have dual-enrollment programs that partner with colleges across the Central Valley to give students college credits while in high school. But none of those programs nor any program in California have a partnership with a HBCU.

Now, a first-of-its-kind pathways program will give students that experience.

FUSD has partnered with Benedict College — a small, private, liberal arts HBCU in Columbia, South Carolina — to offer students dual enrollment, support services, campus visits and a glimpse of the HBCU experience through the HBCU Step Up Pathways Program.

Fresno Unified launched the program Thursday, when they brought together, virtually, Benedict College administrators and local parents and students to help them understand why the program was created and how their students could benefit from it.

Through the program, students at Bullard, Edison and Sunnyside high schools, the three pilot locations, can take free online classes as Benedict College students and be supported by Fresno Unified teachers on days they’re not in live, virtual learning.

“This allows students to have the opportunity to experience what an HBCU is like without having to fly across the country,” said Nancy Witrado, director of counseling and college readiness for FUSD. “And they get to do it while they’re in high school.”

They’ll be guaranteed admission to Benedict College and have the ability to transfer to other colleges such as Fresno City College. The school district is in the process of securing a credit transfer contract with Fresno State, Witrado said.

New partnership promotes student success in college

HBCU Step Up isn’t just another dual-enrollment option for students, said Zerina Hargrove-Brown and Tonisha Hargrove-Williams, program co-coordinators and biological and Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority sisters. It’s also an innovative way to engage and inspire Black students, they said.

“It’s about African American students’ success overall,” Hargrove-Brown said. “We have to ensure their success.”

The Step Up teachers within Fresno Unified act as “champions” for the students by providing tutoring, counseling or academic support and checking their grades, attendance and behavior.

Students attend their live class online with a Benedict professor, but their champions provide tools for success and educate them about HBCU culture on days they don’t have Benedict classes.

“They’re responsible for championing this work at their individual school site,” Hargrove-Brown said. “Their whole job is to make sure students are successful.”

Students will learn to cultivate professional relationships, manage their time, utilize office hours, take and study their notes and “achieve their greatest academic potential,” said Jamila Lyn, Benedict College’s Director of Specialized Programs who will also be a professor.

The first cohort of students are currently juniors and can take a class each semester of their junior and senior year. They will also have the opportunity to take a class on Benedict’s campus the summer before senior year.

About 65 students have already registered and roughly 40 seats are still available.

Superintendent Bob Nelson said he is committed to expanding the program to each of the district’s high schools and wants to bring a satellite HBCU campus to Fresno in the next decade.

The program also promotes student engagement, FUSD leaders said. It will expose students to the communities within an HBCU community.

Hargrove-Brown said the program introduced students to the Divine Nine, which are the Black Greek-letter fraternities and sororities, and mimicked the concept so that students could build a sense of community and be excited about the program.

During breakout sessions at the program’s launch Thursday, students from each school were divided into four “houses,” like Greek houses on college campuses. Students met each other and bonded as they came up with chants for their house.

Through that, Edison High School student Jada Shorte learned about different communities that HBCUs are made up of. Now, she said, she’s considering attending an HBCU.

HBCUs ‘increase their chances of success’

HBCUs make up just 3% of more than 4,000 colleges and universities, according to College Readiness program manager and Step Up team member Gloria Ponce-Rodriguez. Those 107 HBCUs graduate 23% of Black students each year, she said.

Attending an HBCU was a life-changing experience for Ponce-Rodriguez, a Latina who grew up in West Fresno. She said she wouldn’t be who she is if not for her HBCU.

More than half of all Black professionals are HBCU graduates, including master’s and doctoral graduates, Ponce-Rodriguez noted.

Well-known HBCUs such as Xavier University of Louisiana, Jackson State University in Mississippi and Morehouse College in Atlanta have always piqued the interest of Edison junior Charles Butler, so he joined the program to gain the experience.

But it was the high rate of success for Black HBCU graduates that impressed his mom, Emogene Nelson.

Nelson is excited about the possibility of her son attending a college filled with college professors and professionals who he can look up to and be mentored by.

“I feel safe if he goes to an HBCU because I feel in my heart that he’ll be taken care of and guided,” Nelson said. “It’s something about sending your child to a space where they can see others like them growing and where they’ll be guided. He’ll have this network — this tribe — of people around him.”

Edison’s restorative justice teacher Christopher Finley is a HBCU Pathway course teacher.

Although Finley didn’t attend an HBCU, several of his students have graduated from HBCUs and are either obtaining a master’s degree or working in their careers.

FUSD graduates who are attending or have graduated from HBCUs share stories of success and opportunities for more support and care from their professors, especially because HBCUs offer smaller class sizes and create a sense of community, Finley said.

“I think that’s where a lot of their success comes from,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for the kids to understand what college life can be like and hopefully increase their chances of success once they graduate from high school.”