Website connects black college students, alumni
By Donna Marbury
Staff Writer
Columbus Post
Who would guess that the nation’s second largest black–owned website was stationed in Columbus? Since 1999, brothers William R. Moss, III and Daniel C. Moss, who founded HBCUConnect.com,
have more than 275,000 current students and alumni of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) registered to the site.
Daniel Moss, who is the vice president of business development, says that a site geared specifically toward black college students and alumni and their needs is a necessity.
“There are thousands of HBCU students and alumni. As alumni organizations serve their members by keeping them abreast of their school’s news and events, we serve the alumni of HBCUs by providing them with relevant career, networking and event information relating to their respective schools,” said Moss noting the website features all 105 HBCUs. “We fund several scholarships ourselves, as well as provide internship and co-op opportunities. Attending an HBCU is a unique experience. We recognized the need for a website uniquely tailored to the unique needs of our members.”
Moss, a graduate of Claflin University in South Carolina joined his brother William as he developed a site at his alma mater Hampton University’s alumni chapter. From their grassroots effort, 80,000 people registered to the site.
“It’s funny because this all started as a hobby of sorts, although we recognized very quickly that a business model for our service needed to be made, so we did. We are the number one HBCU related website and the second largest black-owned site now,” said Moss. “We have positioned ourselves as the agency for brokering services and products to the black college audience, and have become the clearinghouse for everything related to black colleges.”
The site offers career advice, information on scholarships and a place for students to dialogue about their unique experiences at black colleges. New features like blogs and celebrity profiles allow site members to express themselves and connect nationwide.
“Many blogs are personal, ‘what’s on my mind’ type musings. Others are collaborative efforts based on a specific topic or area of mutual interest. Some blogs are for play. Some are for work. Some are both,” Moss said. “A blog can help keep everyone in the loop, promote cohesiveness and group culture, and provide an informal voice of a project or department to outsiders.”
Comedian Joe Torry is currently featured on the site as an alumnus from Lincoln University. Moss says that celebrity profiles are one way to let people know that HBCUs still have relevance.
“Our HBCUs have produced many notable graduates in the fields of education, science, entertainment, sports and many more,” Moss said. “In an effort to raise the awareness of our HBCUs, we have begun to feature notable celebrities and prominent black college alumni on our site.”
Moss says that they continue to look towards the future as 90,000 high school students interested in black colleges are now registered to the site. HBCU
Connect.com gave $5,000 to the UNCF College Fund this year, and plans to quadruple its donation and sponsor the event nationally next year. The company is also sponsoring a cruise this Fall so that HBCU friends, alumni and current students can network and enjoy the fruits of their labor.
Through their hard work, Moss says the family owned and operated business will continue to grow and provide more services to black college supporters.
“We’d like to continue to raise the awareness of these schools and position ourselves in such a way that our community respects, values and realizes the relevance of these fine institutions,” Moss said. “We are a site and community of individuals whose mission it is to shed light on the often-overshadowed truth of these important institutions’ contributions to the tapestry that is America.”
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Monday, October 17th 2005 at 4:56PM
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