'Black, Brown, and College Bound' summit kicks off in Tampa

TAMPA Fla. - One of the preeminent national forums to address issues facing black and Latino students is in  Tampa Bay. 

The Black, Brown, & College Bound Summit at Hillsborough Community College has helped male minority students receive higher education for the past 14 years.

Dr. Atwater, President of Hillsborough Community College said he gives credit to the African-American women who paved the way before him.

“First let me give credit to my predecessor, to African American ladies," he said. "Fourteen years ago, they had the vision to start 'Black, Brown, & College Bound' to address minority male issues about coming to college and completing colleges.”

Even though it has been 14 years since the first summit, the mission for summit has remained the same.

“Black, Brown, & College Bound is all about having minority males being successful in college and hopefully one day we will never need it because we hope the success rate just becomes normal," Atwater said.

Most of the students that come attend the summit come from single-parent families and do not have role models growing up.

In attempt to break the cycle, Dr. Atwater said, “This summit gives Black and Brown minorities and opportunity to interact with people they see and can talk up close and personal with someone you would never believe had an opportunity.”

Previous special guests have been, John Legend, James Brown, Michael Strahan, Magic Johnson and more. This year, Nelson Mandela's grandson, Ndaba, will be a speaker.

One of the major components in having college students remain in school is to have them stay engaged in college activities.

“What we hoped to do is to get them engaged in college. It is a proven fact that if a student stays engaged in their college experience they have a greater likely hood for more success. So it’s all about how do I maintain that engagement.” Dr. Atwater said.

The guest speakers for this year’s summit will be John Quiñones, Dr. Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa, Jose Antonio Vargas and Juan Williams and will take place at the Tampa Convention Center from March 6 – 9.

LINK: For more information, visit HCC's website.