First-ever virtual HBCU Festival on February 20, 2021 will welcome 70+ iconic institutions

(Black PR Wire) Alexandria, VA — The Alfred Street Baptist Church Foundation is partnering with Google Cloud in presenting the ASBC Foundation's 19th annual Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Festival, taking place virtually for the first time on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021. 

For nearly two decades, the ASBC Foundation’s signature event has enabled more than 50,000 Black youth – many of whom are first-generation college students – to directly connect with the nation’s iconic HBCUs, while also providing a wealth of vital information about the college admissions process, financial aid, academic disciplines, and the vibrant cultural aspects of Black college life. 

The 2020 ASBC Foundation HBCU Festival welcomed 10,000 prospective students and their families, produced 1,766 offers of admission to high school seniors, and awarded more than $5.4 million in scholarships – and 2021 is poised to be even bigger. As title sponsor, Google Cloud will provide funding support, and technology infrastructure for the festival.  

A majority of the 70+ HBCUs participating in the 2021 Festival will conduct on-site interviews and offer instant admission virtually, and many schools will waive application fees. There is no cost to attend and/or register for this year’s Festival.  Since the Festival’s inception, participating HBCUs have awarded more than $40 million in the form of academic scholarships and/or waived fees. 

“We are overjoyed that Google Cloud is partnering with us for the first time as our title sponsor. Google Cloud is committed to HBCUs, higher education for our Black youth as well as diversity, which is why they decided to support this rewarding event,” says the Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley, ASBC’s senior pastor. 

“Partnering with Google Cloud will allow us to reach and impact the lives of so many Black families and their college-bound students,” adds ASBC Foundation president Pat Wallace.

Google Cloud provides organizations with infrastructure, platform capabilities and industry solutions, delivering cloud solutions that use Google’s cutting-edge technology to help organizations operate more efficiently and adapt to changing needs. Customers in more than 150 countries turn to Google Cloud as their trusted partner to solve their most critical business problems, including a majority of HBCUs who use Google Workspace for the communications and collaboration needs of teachers, students, staff and others.”   

“We are proud to sponsor the ASBC Foundation HBCU Festival which includes many of our HBCU customers of Google Workspace,” said Steven Butschi, head of Education for Google Cloud. “We are always honored to assist HBCUs in solving challenges through our technology solutions, or by facilitating the recruitment of our country's finest students for these outstanding colleges and universities."

For more information about the 2021 ASBC Foundation HBCU Festival, please visit alfredstreet.org.

This initiative builds on the company’s ongoing investments in HBCU students. Since 2013, the Google in Residence program has placed Goolge software engineers at HBCUs and Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) as faculty. The company also hosts Tech Exchange, a virtual student exchange program that teaches HBCU and HSU students applied computer science programs. Google has also launched exploreCSR, Computer Science Summer Institute for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (CSSI-HBCU), and Grow with Google HBCU Career Readiness Program. 

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About Alfred Street Baptist Church: Established in 1803, Alfred Street Baptist Church (ASBC) will celebrate its 218th anniversary in November and is home to one of the oldest African American congregations in the nation. Since inception, it has served as a prominent religious, educational, and cultural organization in the Northern Virginia community. Under the current esteemed leadership of Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley, ASBC has grown from 2,500 members to more than 10,000 members, with services on Saturday at 6pm and Sunday at 8:00am, 10:00am and 2:00pm. For more information, visit www.AlfredStreet.org.  

About Alfred Street Baptist Church Foundation: The Alfred Street Baptist Church (ASBC) Foundation is a nonprofit organization that is recognized as such under Section 501(c) (3) of the federal Internal Revenue Service code. The foundation provides academic scholarships to select graduating high school seniors who have demonstrated a financial need and have maintained high academic performance. 

About the HBCU College Festival: The HBCU College Festival is a premier event that connects students and      parents to Historically Black Colleges and Universities.  Arguably the largest HBCU College fair in the country, this 2021 event expects to virtually host approximately 10,000 students, parents, college officials and volunteers. Historical information about the Festival can be found at alfredstreet.org. 

Media Credentials are reserved for working print, broadcast and online journalists with a local, regional, national or international commercial news organization or publication. All requests must be sent to Carla Welborn at https://www.alfredstreet.org/media-credential-form/  or emailed to  cwelborn@alfredstreet.org. Forward a link or an electronic copy of your credential documents and assignment letter. The following information must be submitted for each individual requesting credentials: name, title, news organization, address, work phone, cell phone and email address.  Email cwelborn@alfredstreet.org to schedule interviews.