<div>My name is Dr. Stacey Patton. I am a journalist, author, and college professor. Today, I'm reaching out to ask for your help on behalf of a handful of extraordinary HBCU students who have done everything right, and yet are facing an all-too-common heartbreak.
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<div>These student journalists have spent the past four years pouring their energy, brilliance, and resilience into their education. They've weathered personal hardships, financial strain, a pandemic, and a society that constantly underestimates them — and still, they rose. They completed every course, passed every exam, met every requirement to earn their degrees.
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<div>But now, a cruel technicality threatens to keep them from the moment they've dreamed of: walking across the stage in cap and gown, hearing their name called, and seeing the pride shine on their families' faces.
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<div>Outstanding tuition and fees — just a few hundred or a few thousand dollars — stand in the way. After everything they've sacrificed, everything they've achieved, they may be blocked from graduating simply because of financial hardship.  And so I have established this campaign to raise funds for these students.  All funds raised will be directly wired to each student's account, or paid to the Bursar's Office so that they can graduate on time.  The students will provide proof of payment.
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<div>Here’s what they still owe:
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<div>Student 1: $2,350
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<div>Student 2: $8,724
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<div>Student 3: $4,000
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<div>Student 4: $7,599
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<div>Student 5: $13,200
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<div>Student 6: $5,500
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<div>This is not unusual.
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<div>Every year, thousands of talented HBCU students face this quiet injustice. Despite working multiple jobs, despite scholarships and loans, despite doing everything "right," many are told they can't receive their diploma, not because they failed, but because they ran out of money.
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<div>It’s a gut-wrenching reality that too few people talk about. And it’s devastating, not just for the students, but for the families and communities who have invested so much hope in them.
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<div>Today, I'm asking you to help rewrite this ending.
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<div>Your donation — no matter the amount — can bridge the final gap. It can put college degrees into hands that have already earned them. It can open the doors of newsrooms, production studios, and communication fields to Black storytellers whose voices the world desperately needs.
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<div>You won't just be helping students graduate. You’ll be helping future truth-tellers take their rightful place in shaping the narratives that matter.
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<div>Please give what you can. Share this campaign. Stand with these students as they cross the finish line because they deserve to walk, to celebrate, and to step boldly into their future.
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<div>Thank you for believing in them. Thank you for helping their dreams become reality.
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<div>S. Patton
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