Every April, while most of Boston is on school break, dozens of Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston members board a bus headed south.
This spring, 44 members spent 12 days visiting 10 historically Black colleges and universities, from Bowie State, Morgan State, and Delaware State to Spelman, Morehouse, Clark Atlanta, North Carolina A&T, North Carolina Central, Norfolk State, and Florida A&M. At each stop they sat in on information sessions, toured campuses, asked questions and met BGCB alumni who now call those schools home.
This year, College Club and the tour were planned and led by Kassidy Lawrence and Kiara Powell, who spent the fall and winter preparing members for the road ahead.
For Saaran Sillah, BGCB’s Director of Academic Success, the purpose of the trip comes down to one word.
“Exposure,” she says.
Many members know college through the campuses closest to home. The HBCU Tour expands that picture. It helps young people see more of what is possible, build stronger college lists, and begin to imagine what life after high school could look like.
“Some members didn’t see themselves in college at all,” Saaran says. “Then they went on the HBCU Tour and said, ‘This is for me.’”
More than a trip.
The tour is the culmination of a full year of work. To earn a seat, members take part in College Club, which meets weekly from October through May. They research schools, learn how to evaluate a campus, and think carefully about fit, location, academic programs, student life, and support services.
Thanks to donor support, BGCB offers the tour at a low cost, so members can walk a campus alongside their peers before they finalize their own college decisions.
“It’s more intentional when they’re on the tour, because they know what to look for,” Saaran says.
By the time members step onto a campus, they are not just taking in the scenery. They are asking informed questions. Does this school have my major? What kind of academic support is available? Are there internships? Study abroad opportunities? Greek life? A career center? What does it feel like to live in this city?
The tour gives them space to answer those questions for themselves.
Between campus visits, members also explore the cities around them. They visit museums, restaurants, landmarks, and local attractions, giving them a fuller sense of what their life could look like over four years. They are not only seeing the school. They are seeing the community around it.
Twenty years of momentum
The tour began 20 years ago at the Yawkey Club of Roxbury and has grown every year since. Today members from clubs across BGCB take part, and at nearly every campus they visit, a BGCB alum is there to greet them. That track record shows up in stories that span years.
Saaran remembers one member who arrived on the tour unsure whether his dream school was still within reach. During a campus visit, he asked to meet with an admissions leader and made his case in person. He talked about where he had struggled, what he had learned, and why he could see his future at that school.
That conversation changed his path.
He was accepted, stayed connected with the admissions team, and is now thriving on campus.
Stories like his are why the tour keeps growing. Members who arrive unsure whether college is for them often leave saying the opposite. “I want to go here,” Saaran hears them say. “I love being in a different environment.”
The Class of 2026
This year, members earned acceptances to three historically Black colleges and universities. Those acceptances sit inside a strong year for the senior class. Of 75 graduating seniors, 64 plan to attend college or trade school, and of those, 97 percent were accepted into at least one school. Together, the class earned acceptances to 77 colleges and trade schools.
What stays with Saaran is the shift she watches happen year after year: a young person boards the bus unsure whether college is for them, walks onto a campus they may never have imagined, and begins to picture themselves there.
The HBCU Tour is made possible by the generosity of donors, including Loomis Sayles & Company, who believe every member deserves the chance to see their future firsthand.
