The NEED Podcast

Inside NEED’s 10-Day Journey Through HBCUs And History

• Dr. Marcia Sturdivant • Episode 9

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NEED Has An Annual HBCU Tour. What Has This Experience Been Like For Students And Tour Leaders?

Watch a light switch on when a student steps onto a campus where success looks like them. We take you inside NEED’s 10-day HBCU tour, a journey through more than a dozen states and nearly 18 campuses that blends admissions access, cultural history, and mentoring into a life-changing experience. From first-time travel to first-time acceptances, this is where uncertainty gives way to pride, purpose, and a plan.

We break down how the tour is built for impact: business casual expectations to practice professional presence, guided sessions with admissions officers who often extend on-the-spot offers, and structured time with current students and alumni who greet the group like family. Along the way, we anchor every campus visit in context—stops at Fort Monroe, civil rights sites, and museums pair with bus-ride conversations and videos that explain why HBCUs exist, how they’ve endured, and what it means to learn in spaces designed to celebrate Black excellence.

You’ll hear why access is the nonnegotiable foundation. If a student wants college, NEED brings the mentoring, tutoring, and guidance to get them there. The criteria are simple—desire, an application, and a conversation—while scholarships and community support help cover costs. Parents are partners, students are known by name, and alumni show up on campus to say, “there’s my people,” turning a tour into a living network. The results speak for themselves: elevated motivation, deeper belonging, and a strong share of students choosing HBCUs with confidence.

Ready to support a student’s first step toward a degree and a community that lasts? Subscribe, share this episode with a friend, and leave a review to help more families discover NEED’s path to college. To apply for scholarships or get involved, visit www.Needld.org.

To learn more about NEED visit:
https://www.NEEDLD.org
NEED
429 Fourth Avenue, 20th FL, Suite 2000
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
412-566-2760



SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to the Need Podcast, highlighting students, partners, and advocates. Presented by me and hosted by Dr. Marcia Sturdivent, President and CEO, this series highlights the impact of mentoring, philanthropy, and collaborative partnerships that empower students' triumphant entry into and progression through higher education. Whether you're applying for scholarships or supporting the mission, you'll find insights that inform, inspire, and empower.

SPEAKER_01:

From campus visits to cultural immersion, this episode highlights the transformative impact of Need's annual HBCU tour. Welcome everyone. I'm Julie Schwenzer, your co-host and producer in the studio with Dr. Marcia Sturtivant, president and CEO of Need. Dr. Sturtavant, again, it's a pleasure to be with you. Thank you for your time.

SPEAKER_02:

Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01:

So, what has this famous annual HBC tour experience been like for you, for the other tour leaders, for students?

SPEAKER_02:

It has been just simply marvelous. I think of all the activities and programs that we offer, this is probably the most exciting and the most popular, not only between the students, but also with the staff, is because you can see in a matter of days the change and transformation that our students make during this journey. Many of our students have never traveled outside of the city, let alone the state of Pennsylvania. And we go to about 13, maybe 13 or 14 different states. We attend about 18, visit about 18 colleges and universities, and just to see the look on students' face where they enter these institutions of higher learning, and everyone they see looks like them. That is an experience that is hard to put in words. But when you see that excitement and almost that, I'll call it the black light bulb goes on, that we know we've captured them, their attention. Yes, there are scholars out there, there are universities that celebrate you and support you. And we can't say enough about how great our HBCUs are when they receive us as we're coming in.

SPEAKER_01:

How is the tour organized and how many students typically attend, or does it differ a bit from year to year?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, it differs from year to year. We've taken as many as three um 56 passenger buses of uh students to um very specific students who might need have uh special interest or need. Um, but we take maybe around 30, between 30 and 50 kids, and uh students have to apply. We make sure the students are presented uh in a good fashion. You know, we we require uh business casual dress because we tell them that you know you're on campuses now where people are making decisions. And some of the colleges and universities that we go to, we will take some students who are seniors who haven't made their decision yet. And every time we take them, uh they they get accepted. You know, so a lot of other universities will uh interview them and take their applications and they'll be accepted on the spot. And that is such a joyful experience. But we know that just visiting colleges and universities uh isn't enough, that you have to learn about why they exist, why HBCUs exist and their legacy. And you have to start with the history of how we came to the shores of America. So we visit museums, um, historical sites, we have a curriculum, we discuss it on you know, on the bus, we have videos and so on, um, test or so to speak, because we find have found out that so many of our students don't appreciate when they go to um say Lincoln University. They don't appreciate it if they don't know the history of Lincoln University, or if they sit on Dr. Martin Luther King's porch, if you don't know the history of that. Um, we go to the first landing of um Africans uh in America, enslaved Africans, I should say, the first landing of enslaved Africans in the Americas when we go to Fort Monroe. If you don't understand the history of that, you can't appreciate it. So we want our students to learn about our history as a people because a lot of the schools can't or won't teach it, and we take that responsibility, we teach you about that. Uh so by the end of those days, when we're we're gone for 10 days, students have been immersed in the culture from a positive aspect of the African American experience. And I can say without uh any doubt or any hesitation, every time we come home, all of our students want to go to an HBCU. Now they may not all end up there because of a number of reasons, but they are all so motivated to be to uh to go to an HBCU. And about 33, 35 percent of our students that we serve are at an HBCU. And we think that tour is one of the leading causes.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow, it sounds like a deeply profound experience.

SPEAKER_02:

It's absolutely uh it's almost spiritual. Um, and you know, we have volunteers, and they volunteer because they know that this is going to have a lifelong impact on the perceptions of our young people, and we're just very honored and appreciative that we're able to provide this experience for our students.

SPEAKER_01:

And for students that are interested, what is the criteria that um they need to fulfill to attend this awesome?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, we're a little big headed. We believe that if you want to go to college, we can get you there. You might not be uh able right then and there, you know, but we can get you there. So many students have been told, oh, you're not college material, which I think is just a terrible thing. Uh we know that with guidance, mentoring, tutoring, or whatever, we can get you to college. So all you have to have is a desire that you want to go on to college. Now we would, you know, love it if you went to an HBCU, but our whole mission at need is to have African American students enrolled and graduate from higher education. So it's a desire. Uh, you have to fill out an application and we do an interview because we don't put any child on a bus that we don't know and just trail off for 10 days. So we have to get to know them and they have to get to know us. And that's pretty much it. Uh, some of our there is a fee to it, of course, but many people will provide scholarships, and if we can raise money to help students offset some of the cost, uh, that's what we do. But the experience is such that I don't think any parent could do it um alone. Because like I said, we're 10 days, 18 colleges, probably 20 different museums and sites. Um, we have lectures, we you know, we sit down with the admissions officers, students that are there. All of our colleges that we go to, our HBCUs, we have former students, former need students that are now there, and they come and greet us. And it's just a celebratory uh and wonderful experience. And I can remember a couple years ago we were on the campus of Howard University in the yard, and we were waiting for our guide to come, and I could hear across the yard someone saying, There's my people, and because we're all dressed in green and white, that's our color, our colors. And um it was a student, you know, one of our former students that was attending the university, and he ran and we ran to him, and it was just such a warm um and positive experience. So our tour students were able to see that we're here for you for the long haul, and that it's uh good to have you know mentors and people who are cheering you on. And uh that that's what makes it just you know the best. I can't think of anything that we can do that has more impact on students' perceptions and motivation than that HBCU tour.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, Dr. Servant, thank you so much for giving us a powerful glimpse into this initiative. Again, we appreciate what you're doing for all these kids and their parents because it definitely means a lot.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, yes, and our parents are our partners. We uh in fact we interview parents as well because we want to know that this is a team approach because it's not an easy uh venture to go uh just to get up and go to college. You have to prepare the students, but we're there for the both the parents um and the kids, and a lot of parents want to go with us, but they don't, they can't because you know this is focused on our our students, but it uh we look forward to it every year because we know that those kids are going to be forever different on how they view themselves as a minoritized individual in uh the United States, as well as what their motivations and their perceptions about higher education are. And we can't thank our HBCUs enough. They welcome us on campus and they show off every time, show up and show off, and we're just so proud.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, thank you so much for explaining everything. We really appreciate it, Dr. Surtevant.

SPEAKER_02:

Thank you. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for listening to the Need Podcast. To apply for scholarships, access support, or learn how you or your organization can get involved, visit www.needld.org. Email needph at gmail.com or call 412-566 2760. Need. Unlocking the power of education for students, families, and the future of our region.