URBANA — The way Urbana High School senior Amari Johnson sees it, all students should get a chance to visit with representatives from historically Black colleges and universities and learn the options available to them without having to make a trip out of town.
So she’s making that opportunity available herself.
Johnson has organized a free college fair featuring historically Black colleges and universities, and high school students from the community and throughout the area are invited to attend.
It will be held from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the gym at Urbana High School.
Johnson said she’s been to a couple of HBCU college fairs in Danville, “but I really wanted people to have a way to learn about these colleges in their hometown before making a move to go visit them.”
So far, 15 colleges have committed to attend and help give students a glimpse of college life at their institutions.
Also included will be other information for college-bound students on financial aid, mental and physical health, eating on a budget, voter registration, college-application preparation and Divine Nine Black fraternities and sororities. There will also be raffles for prizes.
Johnson’s mother, Urbana school board member Tori Exum-Johnson, said her 16-year-old daughter has had opportunities to visit college campuses, and had the idea to host this college fair when she was a freshman — but wasn’t able to carry it out sooner due to pandemic-related restrictions.
Her daughter has a passion for helping those less fortunate, and that has been fostered through their church and many years as a Girl Scout, Exum-Johnson said.
Amari Johnson stays busy. In addition to school and several community and service activities, she has a part-time job at the Urbana Country Club. And for the past few years, she’s also been the owner/operator of her own online business selling custom T-shirts, custom bling shoes, purses, bags, pins, notebooks, custom color lip glosses and other items.
“People usually come to me with an idea and I bring it to life on a T-shirt or whatever kind of clothing they want,” she said.
A 2019 winner of the Young Entrepreneur program award through the Champaign Public Library, she said she plans to major in business in college and pursue a real-estate license.
“I know that business can take you a number of places,” she said.
More information on the upcoming college fair is available on this website: cuhbcu.com
