The final week of the Alabama State University Bus Tour ended on a high note – high school students in nine cities received more than $2 million in scholarships, bringing the tour’s scholarship award total to more than $4 million.
“We touched over 75 students with an opportunity to attend college in less debt with scholarship dollars,” said Freddie Williams, Jr., Ed.D., assistant vice-president for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management. But even more than that, our presence at many of the schools we visited on the ASU Bus Tour touched hundreds more through our ability to encourage them to attend college. The faculty, staff, and students engaged with many prospective students about the opportunities at ASU. I believe that we made a difference, and we will see a difference in enrollment because of the impact of the ASU Bus Tour.”
The bus tour occurred over two weeks, impacting high school students in Alabama (Montgomery, Autauga, Dallas, Bullock and Macon Counties), Georgia (Decatur and Atlanta) and Florida (Pensacola), a new tour state. The first leg kicked off March 27-31, and the last leg was April 10-13 with an additional day on April 17.
The road team of faculty, staff and recruitment advisers boarded a bus early Monday morning (April 10) to Birmingham and Irondale and early Tuesday (April 11) to Dothan in order to spread the word about the many great things happening at the university.
The tour buzzed through five more cities (Union Springs, Tuskegee, Montgomery, Eutaw and Uniontown) before the second leg of the tour ended.
The road team met with high school students and parents from multiple high schools and reconnected with alumni. “We brought ASU to high school campuses across Alabama, Georgia and Florida,” Williams said.
Because of health and safety concerns, the tour did not include alumni receptions or the signing of historical MOU agreements with area community colleges.
During the second leg of the tour, the university presented scholarships to students at nine schools — Carver High School in Birmingham, Alabama; Shades Valley High School in Irondale, Alabama; Dothan High School, Dothan, Alabama; Bullock County High School, Union Springs, Alabama; Booker T. Washington High School, Tuskegee, Alabama; Booker T. Washington High School, Montgomery, Alabama; Park Crossing High School, Montgomery, Alabama; Greene County High School, Eutaw, Alabama; and Robert C. Hatch High School, Uniontown, Alabama.
Students attending the tour had an opportunity to qualify for scholarships, with some receiving on-the-spot awards.
Greene County High School senior Moses Tyree III was one of the students for whom the university fulfilled his dream of attending college. Tyree received an Academic Incentive Scholarship and plans to major in either secondary education or communications media.
“I’ve been visiting the ASU campus since my cousin Leotis Nickson began attending in 2015. I fell in love with the campus, the people and the culture there,” said Tyree.
Another scholarship recipient, Asia Clemons, a senior at Robert C. Hatch High School, also decided on Hornet Nation because of a family connection. She will start school in the fall and major in biology pre-health.
“I’m excited to attend ASU. Some of my family members went to ASU,” said Clemons.
Clemons’s school principal, Roman L. Zeigler, said he was thrilled to have the ASU Bus Tour at his school.
“ASU has brought the opportunity for a bright future for those who didn’t think college was possible. The sky is the limit for our young people,” said Zeigler, who is an alumnus.
The school’s assistant principal, LaKeidra Love, said, “It means everything to me that ASU cares enough about our students to travel such a long distance to visit, today of all days. It was very uplifting to have them here,” said Love, who explained the school had recently lost two students in a tragic accident.
On the tour, the university road team saw a series of highs, including their stop at Bullock County High School, located in Union Springs. The school’s mascot is the Hornet, they have a Hornet Nation banner on the side of their football field, and their colors are black and old gold.
“A lot of people who work at the school are ASU alums – the principal and a lot of the teachers and the band director, a former drum major,” Williams said. “The mayor is also an alum. We call the students at the high school and the elementary school our ‘Baby Hornets,’ ” Williams added.