HBCU Summit Encourages Students to Mobilize

"You gone learned today" was the punch line that Actress Gabrielle Union used, originally coined by Kevin Hart, to encourage Historical Black Colleges and University students to mobilize again and show up at the polls for President Obama's 2012 Campaign.

The Summit is a year long tour that will features various representatives from the Obama Administration and State Legislation members listening to student voice their concerns as well as informing them on how they can implement change in the government and their communities.

The first stop was on Tuesday, Feb. 21, at North Carolina Central University in Durham, NC. The students showed up in hundreds including some from local colleges and university.

It was such a huge turned out that some students could not get into the auditorium, but where advised to watch the summit live streamed on the web.

Guest speakers and panelist included the President Obama's Senior Advisor Valarie Jarrett, Congressman G. K. Butterfield, as well as the State and Field Manager for the Obama Campaign-Gregory Jackson. 

Perhaps one of the major concerns that students voiced was the lack of jobs and internships available to them when they graduate.

One student expressed how many companies merely offer unpaid internships. He explained how accepting unpaid internships become a burden for many students who have student loans and our trying to manage their expenses while still searching for a job.

It was a difficult question for the panelist to answer, but their responses focused on the issue of what fields offer the most jobs.

"Lucrative fields will be in Science and Math," Jarrett said, suggesting that students take courses in the STEM fields because many job are in the Technology industry.

As it relates to internships, all the panelist suggested that students intern at their local Obama Campaign offices. There are more than 1,000 internships available.

Throughout the the session, students continued asking questions related to college students such as the cost of tuition, healthcare, voter registration laws, and more.  

The questions did not only come from student in the audience but also from students via twitter. The hash tag for the event was #HBCU2012.

They also encouraged students to organize and make sure that every student on campus is registered to vote.

Gabrielle Union reinforced the urgency of the 2012 campaign by explain how many of the republican candidates have already said they will not support the issues concerning the poor. She also encouraged each student to signup for emails from  barackobama.com/young-americans.

Upcoming Obama Administration Events

According to 11 Alive President Obama will visit Georgia on March 16th, but no other details have been mentioned.

Senior Obama Administration and White House officials will hold events with Asian American and Pacific Islander community and business leaders throughout major southeastern cities  including Atlanta, Georgia on March 16th. They will be on the campus of .