The Alfred Street Baptist Church (ASBC) Foundation is partnering with Google Cloud in presenting the foundation’s 19th annual Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Festival, taking place virtually for the first time on Saturday, Feb. 20.
For nearly two decades, this signature event has enabled more than 50,000 Black youth – many of whom are first-generation college students – to directly connect with the nation’s iconic HBCUs, while also providing a wealth of vital information about the college admissions process, financial aid, academic disciplines, and the vibrant cultural aspects of Black college life.
The 2020 festival welcomed 10,000 prospective students and their families, produced 1,766 offers of admission to high school seniors, and awarded more than $5.4 million in scholarships – and 2021 is poised to be even bigger. As title sponsor, Google Cloud will provide funding support, and technology infrastructure for the festival.
A majority of the 70-plus HBCUs participating in the 2021 festival will conduct on-site interviews and offer instant admission virtually, and many schools will waive application fees. There is no cost to attend and/or register for this year’s festival. Since the festival’s inception, participating HBCUs have awarded more than $40 million in the form of academic scholarships and/or waived fees.
“We are overjoyed that Google Cloud is partnering with us for the first time as our title sponsor. Google Cloud is committed to HBCUs, higher education for our Black youth as well as diversity, which is why they decided to support this rewarding event,” says the Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley, ASBC’s senior pastor.
“Partnering with Google Cloud will allow us to reach and impact the lives of so many Black families and their college-bound students,” adds ASBC Foundation president Pat Wallace.
Google Cloud provides organizations with infrastructure, platform capabilities and industry solutions, delivering cloud solutions that use Google’s cutting-edge technology to help organizations operate more efficiently and adapt to changing needs. Customers in more than 150 countries turn to Google Cloud as their trusted partner to solve their most critical business problems, including a majority of HBCUs who use Google Workspace for the communications and collaboration needs of teachers, students, staff and others.”
Alfred Street Baptist Church—was established in Alexandria, Va in 1803. It will celebrate its 218th anniversary in November and is home to one of the oldest African American congregations in the nation.
“We are proud to sponsor the ASBC Foundation HBCU Festival which includes many of our HBCU customers of Google Workspace,” said Steven Butschi, head of Education for Google Cloud. “We are always honored to assist HBCUs in solving challenges through our technology solutions, or by facilitating the recruitment of our country’s finest students for these outstanding colleges and universities.”
For more information about the festival, visit alfredstreet.org.
