COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Columbus City Schools held its annual HBCU college fair on Friday. The event is aimed at helping students build connections and meet recruiters from different colleges around the country.     This is the sixth year this event has taken place. It was hosted by the Co lumbus Metropolitan Library and more than 20 historically black colleges and universities to help students explore various options to college life, including scholarships and financial aid.     Superintendent Dr. Angela Chapman said one thing that is special about Friday's event is each ambassador from the colleges in attendance were former CCS graduates and that shows the students what they are capable of.     “When I was a student, when I was in school, we didn't have opportunities like this," Chapman said. "We would have to raise lots of funds to be able to charter a bus and take a group of students out of state to visit an HBCU. So, what we have done is we removed the barriers, we removed the opportunity gaps that may exist.”    She notes this event is about uplifting these students and introducing them to opportunities that can set them on a path to college and beyond.     “HBCU pride is really when we think about the sense of belonging that students have where they have that connection,” Chapman said. “They know that there are friends, they are peers, and there are educators there that are just there to support them, encourage them, and be their number one champion. That's been an essence, the feeling that you get from your attended HBCU.”      The superintendent also shared that it’s important to expand this event and offer these students access to achieving their goals.  “My overall hope for this event is that we continue to create greater awareness and really ask our community to step up and support this event with this event,” Chapman said. “Because we have many partners that have come together to collaborate to bring this opportunity to our students and certainly continue to spread the word about the great work that's happening.”  ...read more read less