Mike Salsbury/The Olympian
Timberline High School junior Anovia Daniels joins classmates in response to a motivational discussion about higher education Friday. College recruiters visited the school to encourage students to apply.

Timberline senior TyShaun Ransom looks at a catalog for Philander Smith College while filling out college applications Friday.

Black colleges find audience

Recruiters make pitch to South Sound students

CHESTER ALLEN, THE OLYMPIAN

LACEY -- Timberline High School sophomore TyShaun Ransom won't go to college until 2004.

But recruiters from three historically black colleges visited campus Friday, and Ransom already is weighing his future.

"This gets me ready," Ransom said. "It makes me want to work even harder in high school so I can get into a good college."

Timberline High students crowded into a lecture hall to hear recruiters from Claflin University, Philander Smith College and Bethune-Cookman College pitch their schools.

The recruiters told students that their campuses are a long way from South Sound, but the journey carries great rewards.

Claflin University is in Orangeburg, S.C.; Philander Smith College is in Little Rock, Ark., and Bethune-Cookman College is in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Small classes and personal attention from professors are among the benefits, said Michael Zeigler, Claflin's director of admissions.

"The chance of getting a scholarship at a smaller school is better," Zeigler said.

More attention

"We take students from where they are to where they need to be -- college graduates," said Jesse Hargrove, Division of Education chairman at Philander Smith.

The 2,700 students at Bethune-Cookman live in air-conditioned dorms and hotel management students take courses at Walt Disney World, said recruiter and alumnus Carver A. Portlock.

"We want the best for our family," Portlock said. "We don't have a band, we have the band."

The Thurston Group of Washington State arranges visits from college recruiters.

"We make sure all students here are afforded the opportunity to go to college," said Donna Gilmore, Thurston Group member and mother of two Timberline students at Friday's meeting. "A lot of students here have limited exposure to historically black colleges because we're on the West Coast.

"I saw some eyes light up today."

The small schools keep tabs on students from the time they're recruited until they graduate, Gilmore said.

"We get the director of admissions here," Gilmore said. "He can tell them on the spot whether they'll be admitted -- and this is how much scholarship money you'll get."

Students asked about class sizes, dorm rules and what majors the schools offered.

Students learned that they'll have to work hard in college. They also learned that the colleges produce top students.

Hargrove said 90 percent of Philander Smith's life science biology graduates get admitted to medical school.

"You'll have to study, write your papers and make friends along the way," Hargrove said. "You'll be able to say that 'I've had a great college experience.' "

LaToyua Sims, a Timberline junior, said she is interested in Bethune-Cookman College.

"I am interested in going to a historically black college because of the education and the chance to learn more about my culture," Sims said.

"It seems like they really care about the students -- they want us to succeed."

For more South Sound stories go to the South Sound section.

Recruiters at SPSCC

Interested students are invited to meet with recruiters from three traditionally black schools -- Philander Smith College, Claflin University and Bethune-Cookman College -- from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. today at South Puget Sound Community College, 2011 Mottman Road S.W.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

back to main Home Page Stories index