Speaker 1: Wake that ass up in the morning the Breakfast Club Morning.
Speaker 1: Everybody is dj n V Charlamagne to God. We are
Speaker 1: to Breakfast Club. We got a special guest in the building.
Speaker 2: Yes, indeed, Stacy.
Speaker 1: Lee Spratt Welcome.
Speaker 3: What's up?
Speaker 1: How you feeling listen?
Speaker 3: Feeling good?
Speaker 1: Director of the United Negro College Fund.
Speaker 3: Yes, empower Me Tour.
Speaker 1: There you go.
Speaker 3: That's right.
Speaker 4: I feel like I've been hearing about the United Negro
Speaker 4: College Fund my whole life, but not more, not that much.
Speaker 2: In recent times.
Speaker 5: Really.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So what does United College Fund do?
Speaker 3: Listen?
Speaker 5: We've been around going on eighty years, so that's why
Speaker 5: you've been hearing about it since you were little. But
Speaker 5: you know, we provide educational support for minority students. So
Speaker 5: with the empower Me Tour, it's a traveling road show
Speaker 5: where we talk about college readiness, we talk about career readiness,
Speaker 5: and we give millions of dollars in scholarships for people
Speaker 5: to attend school, not just graduating high school seniors, but
Speaker 5: also people in college can still get scholarships through the UNCF.
Speaker 4: Always want to, you know, like, do people are people
Speaker 4: as aware of resources like this as they need to be?
Speaker 5: You know what I feel like we can always do
Speaker 5: a better job of making sure people know that resources
Speaker 5: are there. Un CF is not just to get students
Speaker 5: to college. It's our responsibility to get students through college also.
Speaker 5: So with the resources are coming in all the time
Speaker 5: to un CF, So I tell students and parents to
Speaker 5: visit UNCF dot org every other week because we have
Speaker 5: scholarships that pop up all throughout the month, all throughout
Speaker 5: the year, and to just know what is actually out
Speaker 5: there for students to attend college for free.
Speaker 3: I mean, education is expensive.
Speaker 1: Sure, what are some of the qualifications to get some
Speaker 1: of the students in college? You know what?
Speaker 5: It honestly depends on the type of scholarship there is.
Speaker 5: You know, some have three point zero GPA qualifications, some
Speaker 5: might even have two point seven or your three point
Speaker 5: five and above. Some of them you have to write
Speaker 5: an essay. It really all depends on the type of
Speaker 5: scholarship that you're applying for. Like with the empower Me Tour,
Speaker 5: we have counselors that come on site and give on
Speaker 5: site admissions to students on the spot.
Speaker 3: Not just that, we have college.
Speaker 5: Admissions counselors offering full for year scholarships to students who
Speaker 5: didn't even know that they could attend college or could
Speaker 5: attend an HBCU. We really try to do the empower
Speaker 5: Me Tour in places where there aren't HBCUs so we
Speaker 5: can educate people that HBCUs exist and scholarships are available.
Speaker 1: So this is only for HBCUs. You only given college.
Speaker 5: Yes, No, we give scholarship money to not just HBCUs.
Speaker 5: People can get a un c of scholarship and attend
Speaker 5: any school of their choice. We just want to make
Speaker 5: sure people know in places, in spaces that HBCUs exists.
Speaker 1: Is there HBCU in New York. I've been having this
Speaker 1: argument with people for the last there is not an
Speaker 1: HBCU in need, So fairly is not an HBCUs.
Speaker 3: That is not an HBCU in New York?
Speaker 1: Okay, Stacey said it not me because I've been saying
Speaker 1: it for the long because I was like, I didn't
Speaker 1: know it was because I always say, you know, growing
Speaker 1: up in New York, there were no HBCUs and the
Speaker 1: only time that I seen it was on a different
Speaker 1: world and that's what made me want to go to
Speaker 1: the best hbc You not Clockhampton University.
Speaker 5: You know it could be second best because number one
Speaker 5: is what on this chest Clark and Learning University.
Speaker 4: So being that y'all give money to everybody, y'all don't
Speaker 4: have to worry about like, you know, because you know
Speaker 4: now you see all of these people, like what's the name,
Speaker 4: I think the named Edward Bron doing these attacks on
Speaker 4: you know, the Fearless Fund and people who are providing
Speaker 4: fundings strictly for black people.
Speaker 2: You don't have funding is.
Speaker 3: Not just strictly for black or brown people, you know.
Speaker 5: Again, I like to remind people HBCUs were created during
Speaker 5: a time that black and brown people couldnot attend. Majority
Speaker 5: institutions were historically black, not exclusively black.
Speaker 1: What was so important for you to go to HBC?
Speaker 1: Of course you went to clock Atlanta.
Speaker 3: Well, of course I went to Clark Atlanta.
Speaker 1: Where you're from?
Speaker 2: You gotta stop blushing.
Speaker 3: I'm originally fro Mississippi.
Speaker 1: You from Missisippi.
Speaker 2: So every time you hear Clarkey blush, listen, that's.
Speaker 3: Where my husband came from. So baby, that's you know
Speaker 3: that Clark Atlanta.
Speaker 1: DJ Drama went to Clock Atlanta. Took Yes.
Speaker 3: DJ Drama went to Clark Atland.
Speaker 5: We were there around the same time my parents went
Speaker 5: to Clark College. My brother went to Howard, my other
Speaker 5: brother went to Morehouse. Like we are an HBCU family.
Speaker 5: Like my business partners you know, went to Hampton one
Speaker 5: okay and the other one went to Clark Atlanta.
Speaker 3: So it just fostered.
Speaker 5: Relationships HBCUs and just homecoming. There's no homecoming like in
Speaker 5: HBCU fact Okay, So that's why I love it so well.
Speaker 2: People don't talk about that before.
Speaker 1: What made you want to go? Was it instilled with
Speaker 1: your family or.
Speaker 3: Is it it wasn't still with my family?
Speaker 5: It was you know again, I've been attending homecoming at
Speaker 5: Clark Atlanta since.
Speaker 3: I was two years old, you know, because both my
Speaker 3: parents went there.
Speaker 5: And just watching the relationships that my parents had with
Speaker 5: other people from Clark Atlanta University and like those are
Speaker 5: my aunts and aunts uncle's extended family. I just fell
Speaker 5: in love with it.
Speaker 4: People don't talk about that aspect enough of the networking
Speaker 4: that happens at these hbcs. What did you or who
Speaker 4: did you meet that led you to end up being
Speaker 4: the director of the United Nego College one.
Speaker 5: I mean, first of all, my father received a un
Speaker 5: CF scholarship, so watching him talk about receiving a un
Speaker 5: CF scholarship and watching him work at General Motors and
Speaker 5: then turn around and give back for other black and
Speaker 5: brown people and people at Clark Atlanta, Spellman and Moorhouse
Speaker 5: to be engineers, and just watching that Foster. I always
Speaker 5: had a good, loving relationship for you and CF. But
Speaker 5: it really is the networking. You have relationships with people.
Speaker 5: I do business with people that I went to school with.
Speaker 5: We still have those genuine relationships you work with them
Speaker 5: when you think about Okay, if I have an event
Speaker 5: taking place, I'm thinking about, well, who can I help.
Speaker 3: That went to Clark Atlanta with me? Or who you
Speaker 3: know went to another HBCU.
Speaker 5: A lot of the work that I do, even in
Speaker 5: the events world, I provide opportunities for other HBCU graduates.
Speaker 4: Well, what's some advice on tips you can give to
Speaker 4: help students apply for and receive scholarships from you UNCA.
Speaker 5: The first thing I would want them to do is
Speaker 5: to go to UNCF dot org and set up an
Speaker 5: account and check back there every other week, because again,
Speaker 5: scholarships pop up every day that we're offering. Again, if
Speaker 5: you're a graduating senior in high school, check it out.
Speaker 3: Set up an account.
Speaker 5: If you are in college and looking for an internship,
Speaker 5: looking for scholarship opportunities, set up an account at UNCF
Speaker 5: dot org and just continue to check back. Make sure
Speaker 5: you have your resume, you know, written out. Talk to
Speaker 5: someone that does resume building. It's so important make sure
Speaker 5: that you have your statement written out of why you
Speaker 5: want to even go to college, whatever college or university.
Speaker 5: That is so just being proactive and preparing yourself.
Speaker 1: How early is too early? I know you said senior year,
Speaker 1: but sometimes senior year might be a little too late
Speaker 1: because you just don't necessarily know. So how early should
Speaker 1: I should parents should be looking into colleges, and same
Speaker 1: thing with students.
Speaker 5: You know, you can set up your account at UNCF
Speaker 5: dot org.
Speaker 3: I mean as a.
Speaker 5: Freshman in high school, okay, and start looking at different
Speaker 5: scholarships and looking for what is it that you need
Speaker 5: to apply for those certain types of scholarships. It's never
Speaker 5: too early to talk to students about scholarships. About financial aid,
Speaker 5: I mean that is so important for parents and students
Speaker 5: to fill out that financial aid information. And I know
Speaker 5: the FASTFA has changed over the course of this year,
Speaker 5: so it's making sure you fill out your FASTFA set
Speaker 5: up that account at UNCF dot org. It doesn't matter
Speaker 5: how old you are. You can start talking to your
Speaker 5: kids about scholarships in you know, fifth, sixth, seventh grade.
Speaker 3: Like, we need money for you to attend school.
Speaker 1: Now, you know, a lot of parents are I don't
Speaker 1: want to say have problems with scholarships, but have problems
Speaker 1: with scholarships because they get this scholarship to get their
Speaker 1: kid into school. But now their kid is in school,
Speaker 1: they're freshmen. Now what happens sophomore year? Are some of
Speaker 1: these scholarships four year scholarships or they just one year
Speaker 1: scholarship You got to get in then you're on your own.
Speaker 3: Oh no.
Speaker 5: A lot of scholarships are four year renewable scholarships as
Speaker 5: long as you continue to keep that GPA requirement, as
Speaker 5: long as you continue to keep whatever the requirements are
Speaker 5: for that scholarship.
Speaker 3: And it's so important to look and say, okay.
Speaker 5: Is this scholarship renewable, you know, for my student, so
Speaker 5: they can plan accordingly. There are some scholarships that might
Speaker 5: be a one time So if you do get that
Speaker 5: scholarship that's one time, then you have to go back
Speaker 5: to the drawing board and say, okay, let me see
Speaker 5: about some scholarship money over here, over here, over here.
Speaker 5: You can also piecemell it together. It doesn't all have
Speaker 5: to come from one place.
Speaker 4: Got when they talk when you talk about certain requirements
Speaker 4: and I didn't go to college. To forgive me for
Speaker 4: my stupidness, But is this scholarships that just like you,
Speaker 4: if you're five six, you.
Speaker 5: Know what, there's a scholarship out there. If you're left handed,
Speaker 5: that's okay. It is scholarship money out there forever everything you.
Speaker 3: Can think of.
Speaker 5: And I think that's the key to it. You have
Speaker 5: to look for scholarships that make you might be thinking
Speaker 5: like I mean, it was a left handed scholarship, but
Speaker 5: it's out there. There are scholarships for all things, whether
Speaker 5: you play sports, whether you don't play sports, whether you're
Speaker 5: majoring in STEM, whether you're majoring and marketing, even entrepreneurial scholarships.
Speaker 3: So it is scholarships available for everyone.
Speaker 5: It's doing the research, spending the time to do the research,
Speaker 5: being organized about where you're looking and what you're looking for.
Speaker 4: I wonder why why do they have a scholarship for
Speaker 4: like left handed people?
Speaker 3: Yes, I don't know, because I didn't create.
Speaker 1: That might have been a left handed billionaire that says,
Speaker 1: you know what, I just want to support other left
Speaker 1: handed people out there.
Speaker 3: You can come up with what, however, you want to do.
Speaker 3: You know, scholarships.
Speaker 5: When myself in Pinky Call, we gave scholarship money for
Speaker 5: thirty graduating seniors at Clark and Landa University.
Speaker 3: We had no rhyme or reason.
Speaker 5: Our reason was that they would not be able to
Speaker 5: graduate if they didn't pay that dollar amount. So sometimes
Speaker 5: you have people that just say, you know what, I
Speaker 5: want to make sure these students graduate. I don't care
Speaker 5: what their GPA is. It could be a two point oh,
Speaker 5: it doesn't matter. I want to make sure they get
Speaker 5: the money so they can walk across that step two
Speaker 5: point And that's what we did. Hey, we didn't care,
Speaker 5: it didn't matter. You owed money and we wanted to
Speaker 5: make sure that you were able to graduate in the spring.
Speaker 3: And so that's what we did.
Speaker 1: My daddy said, if I get a two point on,
Speaker 1: I'm coming back to Queens.
Speaker 5: Listen, you can graduate college still with the two point
Speaker 5: oh you graduate and thank you, Lottie.
Speaker 3: But you're graduatingege, thank you, lad.
Speaker 4: How can students prepare and pay for college, especially with
Speaker 4: the federal student aid deadline coming up.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, the deadline is around the corner. So they
Speaker 3: need to apply.
Speaker 5: You must apply to see what you qualify for. What
Speaker 5: kind of scholarships you qualify for? Again, Google is your
Speaker 5: best friend. YouTube, university is your best friend. Really look
Speaker 5: up what scholarships are available.
Speaker 3: But again go.
Speaker 5: To UNCF dot org because we have thousands of scholarships available.
Speaker 3: We give away millions of dollars.
Speaker 1: To date, U and.
Speaker 5: CF is probably given out over four billion dollars in
Speaker 5: educating young people.
Speaker 1: What today is today is doctor Martin Luther King Junior Day,
Speaker 1: So for that day, are you guys doing something special
Speaker 1: for today?
Speaker 5: Or doctor Martin Luther King went to Morehouse College. But
Speaker 5: we're not doing anything in particular besides what we always do,
Speaker 5: which is provide an education for black and brown and
Speaker 5: young people.
Speaker 2: What are some benefits of going to an HBCU.
Speaker 4: Because my daughter's fifteen now, and you know she's of
Speaker 4: course she's already talking about college. What's the benefits of
Speaker 4: going to an HBCU versus the PWS.
Speaker 5: You know, I think for me, it's seeing people that
Speaker 5: look like you doing great things. It's again that community.
Speaker 5: It's a smaller classroom. It's also go where you're celebrated,
Speaker 5: not where you're tolerated.
Speaker 2: What's the point of being an adulta?
Speaker 3: What's the point of being.
Speaker 6: What's the benefit? Don't you must have a must don't mother?
Speaker 6: My wife's mother is adult.
Speaker 1: What's the point of being at Delta?
Speaker 2: Wow? What's the benefit?
Speaker 4: It's respectful at the point, the benefits, the benefits of being.
Speaker 5: Wow, look at the being a gallery it up Listen.
Speaker 5: Being a member of Delta Signa the Sorority Incorporated was
Speaker 5: one of the greatest decisions for me. They are my sisters,
Speaker 5: my line sisters, my big sisters, my little sisters. Again,
Speaker 5: I not only work with them, I love them. It
Speaker 5: is a sisterhood. I don't have sisters. I have two
Speaker 5: older brothers.
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 5: I have a sissy that you know is my cousin.
Speaker 5: But it is about the love, it's about the sisterhood.
Speaker 5: It's about the commune unity, it's about giving back. So
Speaker 5: all of those things are what Delta encompasses.
Speaker 4: Yeah, because I think about it. If you go to
Speaker 4: an HBCU, that's one level of sisterhood, absolutely and together
Speaker 4: and it's with your black Black people.
Speaker 2: But then you get pledged delta. That's the whole other.
Speaker 5: Level listen, a whole other level of sisterhood and brotherhood.
Speaker 5: I mean again that HBCU camaraderie is a sisterhood and
Speaker 5: brotherhood in itself, whether you pledge something or not. And
Speaker 5: even pledging delta, I still have a ka's that I
Speaker 5: so love.
Speaker 3: I mean, my public is.
Speaker 5: An AKA, you know, but you know it's still that
Speaker 5: love of fraternities and sororities.
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: My oldest is a sophomore in high school. Like I said,
Speaker 4: we're already starting to look for colleges. When should students
Speaker 4: start seriously looking into.
Speaker 5: Honestly, again, I would say seventh eighth grade years. Start
Speaker 5: talking to your kids about college and and what kind
Speaker 5: of college would they want to go to?
Speaker 3: What do they want to do? You know, as they
Speaker 3: you know, get older.
Speaker 5: And I always also tell studentudents, if you don't know
Speaker 5: exactly what you want to do, it's okay to say that,
Speaker 5: it's okay.
Speaker 3: To change your mind.
Speaker 5: But I also say, as a junior in college, just
Speaker 5: go ahead and finish whatever that major is and figure
Speaker 5: out how to apply it to whatever it is you
Speaker 5: want to do or become. That's right, Like, don't pay
Speaker 5: all that money to take extra classes or additional classes.
Speaker 3: Just move forward.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I always say HBCUs sometimes have to do a
Speaker 1: better job at trying to get students, especially on the
Speaker 1: East Coast, because we don't see them as much, especially
Speaker 1: in New York and in New Jersey or or even
Speaker 1: Delaware and Philly. We don't see it as much. And
Speaker 1: like I said myself, my biggest thing was a different world.
Speaker 1: That's what made me see what an HBCU is like.
Speaker 1: So I would say they have to do a better
Speaker 1: job and hopefully things like this will encourage more students
Speaker 1: to check out HBC.
Speaker 5: Yes, and we actually did the empower me to or
Speaker 5: in New York with high school students. It was some
Speaker 5: years ago, was right before COVID and again hugely successful
Speaker 5: because students didn't know about HBCUs that they're available, you know,
Speaker 5: for them to attend.
Speaker 4: Do you agree with MV that you know HBCUs have
Speaker 4: to do a better job or do we as black
Speaker 4: people have to start valuing our own better.
Speaker 3: I think it's both. I think it's I think it's twofold.
Speaker 5: I think one it's important for us to continue to
Speaker 5: give back to our HBCUs.
Speaker 3: It's not just about.
Speaker 5: Homecoming and coming home, it's also coming home, loving on
Speaker 5: your people, but also giving back to your institution. So
Speaker 5: I just really think, you know, it's imperative, and we
Speaker 5: do have to do a better job of letting kids
Speaker 5: know that HBCUs are attainable, that they're available, and that
Speaker 5: money is available.
Speaker 3: The reason them to attend.
Speaker 1: The reason I talk about them so much is going
Speaker 1: to Hampton and going to all these homecomings. I didn't
Speaker 1: get that experience in New York. You know, you go
Speaker 1: to Florida and they have the classic where it's it's
Speaker 1: nothing but people, and they're outside and they're barbecuing and
Speaker 1: they're cooking, and there's a parade and it's just so
Speaker 1: much going on. And then you go to one in
Speaker 1: Alabama and it's the same thing, and you realize, damn,
Speaker 1: I didn't have that in New York. We didn't have
Speaker 1: to experience that. We didn't wake up wanting to go
Speaker 1: to the parade, and you missed that being in certain
Speaker 1: areas where they don't have an HBCU. That's why I
Speaker 1: said a lot of times, we have to do it,
Speaker 1: go better at going to those areas where there is
Speaker 1: no HBCU showing the students what it means, what it
Speaker 1: is and what the family is like like going to
Speaker 1: famu's homecoming. I know you Clark Atlanta, but I'm Hampton,
Speaker 1: but fam you has probably one of the best homecomings ever.
Speaker 5: They have a they have an excellent homecoming, and I
Speaker 5: will say I mean, I love my CEU. Jackson State
Speaker 5: also has a fun yes coming as well. I must
Speaker 5: say that, But I thought there was a classic here.
Speaker 3: In New Jersey. Didn't they just start.
Speaker 1: It's a game, okay, so they just to shout the album.
Speaker 1: He just he's trying to bring it back to New York.
Speaker 3: Got it.
Speaker 1: He didn't actually go to a HBC. He went to
Speaker 1: Saint John's, but he understands what it means. He has
Speaker 1: black kids, so he's trying to create the classic background.
Speaker 1: Schools are coming in the problems. I think last year
Speaker 1: they did more house in Alabama State at Alberty State.
Speaker 1: And the problem with Alberdy State, sadly is most people
Speaker 1: thought it was in Albany, New York, but albody states
Speaker 1: in Georgia. So it's like getting those schools and giving
Speaker 1: an education but he's gonna continue to do it and
Speaker 1: hopefully that gets that back hair and gets these students
Speaker 1: out here and gets them coming to see things. Because
Speaker 1: it's more than just the games they have, step shows
Speaker 1: they have, They give a place where they give the
Speaker 1: scholarships on site to kids they're doing. There's so many
Speaker 1: different things around it, and I like to be a
Speaker 1: part of it because I just love my HBCU. Yes, well,
Speaker 1: we appreciate you.
Speaker 2: She's also an entrepreneur.
Speaker 1: That's right.
Speaker 4: Harlem Hops, Bier Booths, Bites and Beach be Scott that
Speaker 4: brought us this before.
Speaker 2: That's right. You know what I mean. We want to
Speaker 2: talk about Harlem Hops.
Speaker 3: Listen. Harlem Hops is a craft beer bar. It's in Harlem.
Speaker 5: We also just opened up a second location at Peer
Speaker 5: fifty seven, so we have Harlem Chelsea also in the
Speaker 5: food hall where the Google building is, So that's our
Speaker 5: second location. And I mean we are one African American owned,
Speaker 5: you know, first black owned Crappier Barn.
Speaker 3: In New York.
Speaker 4: The reason I love this because it shows that you
Speaker 4: know what you do with you United Negro College. When
Speaker 4: you do that, have to be of service.
Speaker 5: Absolutely, you know what I mean, absolutely do it to
Speaker 5: be of service to other students so they can also
Speaker 5: see again, there's nothing like a mirror image to see
Speaker 5: what it is that you can do and what you
Speaker 5: can become. And when you see you know, a brother
Speaker 5: or sister and you're like, dang, I can do that also.
Speaker 3: It's it's inspiring and it's inspirational.
Speaker 2: How can people get in contact with you in the UNC?
Speaker 3: Okay, you can reach me on my ig at Stacy
Speaker 3: Lee thirty two. That's my maiden name, Lee. I'm a Spratt.
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 3: On ig you can reach out to me directly.
Speaker 5: You know, any kind of questions about education, any kind
Speaker 5: of questions about scholarships, I will be glad to answer.
Speaker 2: And Unit A Negro College Fund dot un c F dot.
Speaker 5: Org dot org UNCF dot org for all information about scholarships, internships,
Speaker 5: you know, ways to get to and through college.
Speaker 3: It's all right there at your fingertips.
Speaker 1: All right, well, Stacy Lee Spratt, we appreciate you for
Speaker 1: joining us.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 1: It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning, wake that ass up
Speaker 1: in the morning.
Speaker 2: The Breakfast Club