Creighton and the Harper Center played host to the third annual African American Youth Conference on Nov. 13. The conference, mainly aimed at high school juniors and seniors, gives students an opportunity to see what it takes to get into the college of their choice and how to be successful during their time at college.
The conference is presented by the Creighton University African-American Student Association in conjunction with the affirmative action department at Creighton.
“The conference is geared to African-American or minority high school juniors and seniors but is not limited to that,” said President of CUASA Yvonnda Summers. “Anyone who shows interest in the conference is more than welcome to attend.”
The speakers invited to the conference presented topics like “Benefits of Networking” and “Entrepreneurship,” as well as more African American targeted seminars such as “AIDS and Sex: What African Americans Should Know.”
John Pierce, the head of the department of affirmative action, noted that the main goal of the conference is to “increase diversity at the university, as well as attracting local African American and other minority students to enroll at Creighton.”
Pierce said the department has been constantly working to increase the number of minority students at Creighton.
Pierce added that the conference is important because it allows Creighton to “reach out to and represent the minorities in the community around the university.”
Ultimately, Pierce said the goal is to attract minority students in the local area who may be interested in attending Creighton.
The conference has been growing each year and is growing in importance because, as Summers said, “so many African Americans come to college unaware of the culture and what they need to do in order to be successful and this conference tries to limit the dropout rate.”
Summers stressed that the goal of the conference is to educate possible incoming college students about the kind of difficulties they may face.
However, the conference is not just about seminars on what to be stressed about as college approaches.
“[The students] are exposed to what life is like in college with a student panel,” Summers said. “Then there is an entertainment portion, the Greek Stroll Off, to show just one of the benefits of being a successful student academically and socially.”
The African American Youth Conference has grown significantly from having three students in attendance in its inaugural year to having 25 registered and active participants in the last conference. According to Summers, the ultimate goal is “for the conference to get larger and more successful with every year.”