ST. Paul — Community champions recognized for their work connecting underserved youth to higher education options
With a ribbon cutting, the Harding High School auditorium became the Joan Clark Auditorium Saturday morning.
“I was very surprised at how many people came,” Clark said.
It's all in honor of the woman who started what would become the Thinking Career and College Early Fair in her church more than 20 years ago.
“It was the first time I saw Harding Auditorium filled with people who looked like me,” Clark said.
Mr. Clark has helped more than 1,000 students focus on their futures, including sponsoring tours of historically black campuses and universities, with 80% of those students going on to higher education. I am.
In his 35 years of service, Mr. Clark has helped raise more than $1 million to help students take college tours.
“What's different about my tour is that even if the kids don't have a 2.0, I'll take kids who have a 1.5,” Clark said.
Fittingly, Saturday's job fair was heavily attended by HBCUs.
Benilde St. Margaret's juniors Judah Johnson-Nixon and Raphael Johnson-Nixon were at Harding on Saturday to check out their options. The twins said HBCUs offer a different family-like atmosphere compared to majority-white private schools.
“FAMU is one, Hampton University is one,” said Judah Johnson-Nixon. “I want to go to the Faculty of Science.”
“From the beginning, HBCUs have been the only place our people have been able to be a part of. “I think it helped us find it. It's the same network advantage that you can't find anywhere else,” Raphael Johnson Nixon said.
For Clark, it's about closing the educational gap and giving opportunities to people who wouldn't normally have access to them.
“Those kids' lives have changed and now they're probably your doctor or your lawyer. You probably just don't know it,” Clark said.
