THE BLACK COLLEGIAN AT 30 by Robert G. Miller

The old adage "you've come a long way baby" aptly depicts the challenging journey THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine has experienced over the past 30 years of its existence.

On this, the magazine's 30th anniversary, our journey has catapulted us from our humble 1970 beginning in a rundown "shotgun" house in New Orleans to after three more office locations later, the top two floors of an elegant 36-story high-rise office building downtown to accommodate eventual staff growth. Three decades ago, we had only a small staff and our inaugural issue in December 1970 consisted of merely 40 pages. Now, our company has more than 50 employees and the magazine is over four times as large. It is currently distributed mainly by the Career Services Offices on over 800 college/university campuses throughout America with an average circulation in excess of 118,000.

As an accounting professor at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1970, the founder and publisher of THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine, Preston J. Edwards, Sr., didn't know the publishing business at that time. But, what he did know was the pulse of Black college students who had no popular and substantive magazine focusing on them in those days. Large corporations and government agencies simply didn't advertise or recruit on Black campuses before the '70s. But in the early '70s, they converged on Historically Black Colleges and Universities recruiting Black collegians for the first time. Then, there was nothing available to prepare Black college students for the process of job searching, interviewing skills and resume preparation, and pointers on making the transition from college life to the world of work. According to Edwards, his original objective for the magazine was to relate to the needs and interests of Black college students. "We featured articles on student protests at Jackson State, Prairie View and Southern University, and conducted interviews with famous poets like Nikki Giovanni and Amiri Baraka and so forth. But, while retaining this posture, we have historically focused on career-related opportunities and issues as well creating information value for our collegiate readers," said Edwards.

Since the debut of THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine in the 1970-71 school year, we have been the leading source of career information for African-American college students on where the jobs are and how to get them.  What began as a small publishing company, once named Black Collegiate Services, Inc., has now become a growing Internet and publishing company in the name of iMinorities, Inc., in our 30^th Anniversary publishing year.   In the past, we have published NSBE Journal for the National Society of Black Engineers and Journal of the NTA for the National Technical Association.  Although we no longer publish these, we do publish Black MBA Magazine for P&L Publishing, the official publisher for the National Black MBA Association, Inc.  In 1995, we became the first African-American magazine on the Internet when we launched THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Online (www.black-collegian.com).  This also led to the creation of IMDiversity.com (formerly MINORITIES’ JOB BANK) in 1997.  Not only did the Internet open a vast potential for reaching an even larger number of African-Americans, but it also helped us reach women, Asian-American, Hispanic-American, and Native-American experienced professionals as well.  Thanks to our publishing experience, we were able to create a successful Internet business that has contributed largely to the growth of our company.  By using the Internet to transmit information on career and job opportunities, that we earlier only printed and mailed to our readers, we are now able to broaden our valuable reach, scope and frequency of this information.

Down through the years, our magazine has gone the extra mile in periodically spearheading scholarship initiatives to help educate more African-American youth. Ten years ago during our 20th Anniversary of THE BLACK COLLEGIAN, we established a $20,000 scholarship program to encourage more Black males to major in elementary education. Now, 10 years later, we have initiated another innovative scholarship program for select elementary education majors.

The staff of THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine

A true testament to the impact of THE BLACK COLLEGIAN historically can best be seen from the vantage point of campus career services professionals and corporate college recruiters long acquainted with the magazine. Al Johnson (left) is the director of Placement Services at Alcorn State University and a staunch supporter of the magazine. "We take pride in distributing THE BLACK COLLEGIAN to our students and frequently urge visiting college recruiters to advertise in it because it simply reaches a population of students they don't see everyday. The magazine brings everyday issues of employment-related topics to the forefront. It's a valuable resource for me and our students," says Johnson. "The top 100 employers, majors in demand, resume preparation and interviewing skills can never get old. They're still relevant for our students and I applaud the magazine for providing that information."

Emile LaBranche, Jr., (left) former director of Career Planning and Placement for Xavier University of Louisiana, was among the first 30 years ago to introduce the magazine's publisher to many college placement directors and college recruiters from private industry. This was pivotal in enabling the publisher, Preston J. Edwards, Sr., to establish early networking contacts for publication content and advertising and build credibility on those contacts throughout the past years. "In my view, THE BLACK COLLEGIAN provides crucial career oriented information to college students giving them ideas on different career outlooks to pursue when they graduate. It also showcases successful alumni who serve as role models for students in school today," remarks LaBranche.

George Brewster, manager of College Recruiting, Corning, Inc., has been a consistent supporter of the magazine since the early '80s by often providing career-related information for assorted articles along with advertising support. Brewster calls THE BLACK COLLEGIAN  "a quality magazine." He asserts "students have a lot of publication choices to consider but THE BLACK COLLEGIAN has sustained its popularity by publishing strong content with a high quality of writing. I've always enjoyed it. Despite the ups and downs of any business, it's a tribute to the staff that it has survived all these years."

Bob Pike, (left) director of College Relations for Procter & Gamble, echoes Brewster's sentiments. "Our company has been one of the magazine's advertisers for quite some time and it has been mutually beneficial. Many of the people we desire to recruit for entry-level jobs read THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine. Thus, the magazine is an important advertising vehicle for us to reach quality minority job candidates.  By embracing technological advances with its Internet presence, the future of THE BLACK COLLEGIAN looks even brighter," maintains Pike.

Willie Brown, (left) vice president of Administrative Services for State Farm Insurance Companies,  takes pride in his corporation being a longtime advertiser in THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine. "In the early years, this wonderful magazine made all the difference in the world to State Farm in our recruiting efforts on historically Black college campuses, and in our effort to convince young African Americans to consider insurance careers with us throughout our nationwide locations." Brown maintains, "partnering with and advertising in THE BLACK COLLEGIAN continues to make young African-American professionals aware of the many career opportunities we offer at State Farm such as underwriting and claims, information technology, accounting, and other excellent career options."

Jim Brannon (left) formerly worked in college recruiting for Liberty Mutual and is now a sales representative. As a longtime advertiser in THE BLACK COLLEGIAN, Brannon states the magazine was in its inception and still is a product that meets his company's needs in attracting capable African-American job candidates. "It's essential that an instrument like THE BLACK COLLEGIAN stays afloat to continue servicing the career information and intellectual growth needs of minority college students," reflects Brannon.

Lavon Marshall (left) used to work in career services at Huston-Tillotson College and is now their vice president for Student Affairs. She has promoted the value of THE BLACK COLLEGIAN to her students almost since the inception of the magazine. In a recent discussion, she described the key benefits of the publication and had sage advice to offer. "Its greatest value is that the magazine is realistic, timely and displays viable role models who can speak to the career and self-development needs of especially African-American collegians. Our students can relate to the publication. They often say, if others can make it in life, so can they," advises Marshall. She is also upbeat about the magazine's future role in education even though students access the Web a lot these days. "The print medium will still be relevant for giving students overall career information whether they're online or not. We're not a paperless society yet and I don't see that happening in the foreseeable future. To get the attention of students, you still need a hard copy to validate the information in their mindset," Marshall remarks.

Sam Hall (left) is retiring this year as director of Career Services for Howard University. He is quick to add Howard University has strongly supported THE BLACK COLLEGIAN from the beginning because it has added career information value to the lives of untold numbers of Howard students down through the grinding years. "We have supported the magazine from day one because it serviced the career information needs of our students then and still does by also publishing African-American success stories and positive role models. We have 30 or so different magazines in our office, but our students regularly ask for just one-THE BLACK COLLEGIAN. That says it all," Hall comments. Furthermore, Hall believes the magazine's future is on the up side because it has incorporated technology into its offerings with its Internet content on THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Online. "I want to congratulate Preston Edwards {the publisher} for nurturing the idea for his innovative magazine 30 years ago and overcoming the tough times associated with any business in becoming successful," says Hall. He adds, "many dot-coms from only two years ago don't even exist today. Preston Edwards is to be commended for his tenacity in growing his business and it's a real tribute to his leadership."

Other admirers of the magazine hold it in high regard as well.

"For years, I have been a reader of THE BLACK COLLEGIAN. It has always assisted me with planning my future. It provides students with answers and solutions to their career problems. May you continue to be a positive force in our lives for many more years to come."

-Juwana Campbell
Class of 2001
Howard University

"THE BLACK COLLEGIAN is undoubtedly useful for many, but specifically designed to address the needs of African-American students. Speaking from a campus that is predominantly white, your magazine is an excellent resource for African-American and other underrepresented students here. It provides them with information regarding higher education and job seeking that they may not see anywhere else. Continue to inspire and enlighten!"

-Tashel C. Bordere
Graduate Student- Human Development and
Family Studies
University of Missouri-Columbia

"Your publication is one that we encourage students to use in their research efforts. The articles add much to issues impacting EOP {Educational Opportunity Programs} students in higher education.

-Ruben Martinez
EOP Office
University of California, Santa Cruz

"THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine is clearly an outstanding periodical of great educational and intellectual substance. I commend the publisher, Mr. Preston J. Edwards, Sr., and the editor, Robert G. Miller, on their work in producing such a fine periodical."

-Dr. S. Allen Counter
Director of the Harvard Foundation
Neuroscience Professor, Harvard Medical School
Harvard University

"I want to wish THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine much success in the future. You have had great success so far. Yours is a wonderful accomplishment."

- Julian Bond
Chairman
NAACP National Board of Directors

Robert G. Miller the editor of THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine.