Martha’s Vineyard HBCU College Fair Draws 900 Registrants and More Than 20 HBCUs to Oak Bluffs

Nine hundred registrants filled the Historic Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts on Tuesday, August 11, 2026 for the second annual Martha’s Vineyard HBCU College Fair, a free public event that put more than 20 HBCU admissions teams, a dozen scholarship and internship organizations, and a slate of national experts in the same open-air venue for a single afternoon.

The Fair is built around three pillars: Getting In, Getting Paid, and Getting Ready. Organizers say it is that combination, and not any one piece of it, that separates the event from a standard college fair. Attendees met admissions representatives, the organizations that fund an HBCU education, and the people who hire and mentor HBCU students, all in one sitting.

The day opened with “Getting Paid: Real Talk,” a main-stage session that ran from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and brought in professionals from outside the usual admissions circuit. The panel included Dr. Alden Landry of Harvard Medical School, Calvin L. Butts Jr., co-founder of East Chop Capital, Sydney Montgomery, Esq. of Barrier Breakers, Teshena DeBrew, Bryan Woodson, and Ashley Odom of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Keith B. Shoates of the Student Freedom Initiative, Stacie Whisonant of PYT, Jeremiah Price of The Bulfinch Group, and Fonta J. Gilliam of Wellthi Technologies. Valerie Mosley, CFA, Founder and CEO, Upward Wealth served as the opening speaker.

When the exhibitor floor opened at 1:00 p.m., students found admissions teams from Howard University, Spelman College, Morehouse College, Hampton University, Xavier University of Louisiana, Florida A&M University, Morgan State University, Bowie State University, Delaware State University, Grambling State University, Fisk University, Claflin University, Virginia State University, Prairie View A&M University, Lincoln University of Pennsylvania, and Cheyney University, among others. Several schools issued on-site admissions decisions for students who arrived with SAT/ACT scores, an official transcript, and a letter of recommendation in hand.

More than a dozen scholarship, funding, and internship organizations staffed the floor alongside the schools, including the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, the Student Freedom Initiative, the NBA HBCU Fellowship, InternXL, and The Green Fund. Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. were also on hand.

“Over and over, our guests told us this was unlike any college fair they’d ever been to,” said Cynthia Bradshaw, Founder and Organizer of the Martha’s Vineyard HBCU College Fair. “That’s because we don’t stop at Getting In.”

Registrants included high school students in grades 9 through 12, current college students looking for scholarships, internships, and graduate school connections, parents, academic counselors, and community and youth organizations. The crowd drew from families already spending the summer on the Vineyard and day-trippers who took the ferry to Oak Bluffs specifically for the Fair, pulling from across Massachusetts and the broader New England region.

Now in its second year, the Fair is organized by Upgrade Youth, Inc. and remains free and open to the public, keeping the path to an HBCU education, and the money and mentorship that sustain it, inside one afternoon and one room.