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Luncheon and fair help minority students looking to go to college

college fair
Caitlin Whyte
/
WXXI News
college fair

A luncheon in Rochester Wednesday raised funds for historically black colleges and universities, as well as local students.

More than 1,500 area students, juniors and seniors, attended a college fair upstairs at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center.

Below them, a fundraiser was being held to raise money to provide scholarships for those students.

The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) is the largest private provider of scholarships to minority students in the country.

Maurice Jenkins is the Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer of that organization. He says the goal is to get students excited about college in general.

"Whether it’s a historical black college or rather some majority school, we want them to go to school because we know it changes their lives and it changes the lives that they touch and that they’re involved with in terms of family and their communities, etc."

But Jenkins says it is about giving students options, since there are no historically black colleges in the Northeast.

luncheon
Credit Caitlin Whyte / WXXI News
/
WXXI News
luncheon

"We want them to go off and have an extraordinary experience in college, and then when they come back with that experience, they’re able to come back to these communities and make a difference, so we're just excited about that."

UNCF awarded nearly $5 million to students from New York last year.