UNCF 'Empower Me Tour' returns to Chicago

CHICAGO - Hundreds of Chicago high school students gathered at UIC's Dorin Forum Tuesday for a college readiness conference hosted by the United Negro College Fund.

The Empower Me Tour is a free event filled with activities and giveaways.

"It's a traveling roadshow," said Stacey Lee Spratt, the tour's director. "We go to different places and talk to students about how to get to college, how to apply for scholarships, financial aid, what you can major in and what that job could look like when you graduate."

Some of the schools represented are in Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, the Carolinas, Florida and Ohio.

Spratt said some of the 800 students will leave the event with a scholarship in hand.

"In 2018, when we last did the Empower Me Tour here at UIC, institutions offered over $4 million in scholarships," she said. "Students are always very excited."

The tour has been able to open pathways for students who have not considered pursuing higher education.

"Some students say, 'I didn't even know this opportunity existed for me. I didn't know I could attend an HBCU.I didn't know that I had a GPA to get a full scholarship for four years to attend a college or university,'" Spratt said.