Over two days, close to 400 registrants from 26 states and the District of Columbia representing K–12, higher education, government agencies and nonprofits will have the opportunity to hear from panelists and presenters from across the country speak about breakthrough strategies, progress and areas of opportunity for African American students.

“I continue to share with others a deep belief in the importance of providing a high-quality education to all students, and the opportunity to not only increase access to college, but also ensure that students are successful in completion of a college degree,” said College Board President Gaston Caperton.

This year’s conference will place special emphasis on sharing best practices and new strategies for empowering African American students through sessions like the opening plenary by Spelman College on “African American Students: From When and Where They Enter,” and other sessions, such as “The Educational Crisis Facing Young Men of Color,” based on a report issued in February 2010 and informed by extensive research of model programs that are positively impacting black males in higher education.

The conference’s distinguished keynote speakers are Beverly Daniel Tatum, president of Spelman College; John T. Grant Jr., executive director and chief operating officer of 100 Black Men of Atlanta; Janice E. Hale, professor of early childhood education and founding director of the Institute for the Study of the African American Child at Wayne State University; Bryant Marks, assistant professor at Morehouse College; and long-standing collaborator Jeniffer Harper-Taylor, president of the Siemens Foundation.

            For more information regarding the conference, and to review a complete list of speakers, please visit http://www.collegeboard.com/dreamdeferred/.

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Communications          The College Board          212-713-8052                      communications@collegeboard.org