Fifteen area high school students, chosen by the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the United Negro College Fund, left Sunday (3/31) for UNCF's week-long Spring College Tour program.

The annual program is an educational activity offering high school students an opportunity to explore their future among the UNCF colleges and universities. Students will tour 10 schools under the UNCF consortium. They will meet with instructors and staff and talk to college students about their learning experiences.

Mike Montgomery, manager of Economic Development and Community Affairs at Pennsylvania Power & Light Co., is chairman of the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter of UNCF. The 12-member volunteer board holds its meetings periodically at PP&L's headquarters in Allentown.

"Today's college fund is an education assistance organization whose mission is to raise funds, provide program services and offer technical assistance to support its member colleges and their students," said Montgomery. "Thanks to dozens of companies throughout the Lehigh Valley, the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter of UNCF raised over $100,000 during the 1995 campaign."

Area students selected for the tour are: Kena Cooper, Shawna Jenkins, Shanise Palmer, Justin Stovall, TaNisha Evans, Hasani Williams, Karimah Williams and Shalonda Pizarro all of Allentown; Nyid Coleman, Penllyn; Beverly Edwards, Lafayette Hill; Clinton Heard, Hatfield; Brandy Butler, Reading; Desiree Scott and Latasha Boyce, Lackawaxen; and Naecki Rodriquez, Bethlehem.

Area students will be joining 105 other high school students to visit Bennett College, Greensboro, N.C.; Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn.; Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, N.C.; Knoxville College, Knoxville, Tenn.; Livingstone College, Salisbury, N.C.; Oakwood College, Huntsville, Ala.; St. Augustine's College and Shaw University, Raleigh, N.C.; Tuskegee University, Ala.; and Virginia Union University, Richmond, Va.

Founded in 1944, the United Negro College Fund is a consortium of 41 private, historically black colleges and universities. To date, more than 250,000 men and women have graduated from UNCF colleges.