What Is Diversity University Summit (DUS)? A Complete Guide to the College Access Event Changing How Students See Their Future
If you've heard the name Diversity University Summit and wondered exactly what it is, who it's for, or how to get involved - this guide covers everything you need to know, including how to experience it virtually or in person.
What Is Diversity University Summit?
Diversity University Summit (DUS) is a free college access and future pathways initiative, now in its sixth year, built specifically for first-generation and underrepresented BIPOC high school students and their families. This October, DUS is hosting its first-ever in-person summit at the DuSable Black History Museum in Chicago - a major milestone after five years of operating entirely online.
At its core, DUS exists to close a gap that too many students fall into: being told that life post-high school is possible, without ever being shown what that actually looks like, or connected to real people who've walked the path. DUS was co-founded by Risachi Ogan and Rachel Aideyan, who met online and built the summit together for six years without ever meeting in person - a fitting origin story for an event built to prove that access doesn't require proximity.
Who Is DUS For?
DUS is built for high school students - especially first-generation and underrepresented students of color - and their families. But its programming and community reach go beyond just one group: the goal is to reach any student navigating the college and career process without a clear roadmap, whatever their background.
What Happens at a DUS Summit?
Every part of DUS is designed to turn information into experience, not just deliver a lecture. Programming typically includes:
A College Fair featuring college representatives who are current students of color at the schools they represent - not scripted brand ambassadors, but real students who can speak honestly about what campus life is actually like.
A College Content Creator Collective - current student creators from campuses across the country, creating authentic, on-the-ground content so prospective students see organic college life, not a brochure.
Panels built around lived expertise, covering college admissions, money and financial literacy, and alternative career paths, including trades and content creation.
A pep rally, because DUS treats college access as something worth celebrating, not just something to survive.
A scholarship, awarded every single year to a high school senior in attendance - funded personally by DUS's founders since day one, sponsor or no sponsor.
Virtual vs. In-Person: How to Experience DUS
One of the things that sets DUS apart is that it was built virtual-first, specifically to remove barriers - the cost of travel, the challenge of distance - that keep many families from accessing this kind of programming at all.
Virtual Access: "Kitchen Table Conversations" For its first five years, DUS operated entirely as a livestream event, under the theme "Kitchen Table Conversations" - built around the idea that big decisions about a student's future often get made right at the kitchen table, over dinner, as a family. The virtual summit includes a live national stream with real-time Q&A, meaning families anywhere in the country can watch, ask questions, and engage exactly as they would in person.
In-Person Access: The First-Ever Live Summit This October marks DUS's first in-person summit, hosted at the DuSable Black History Museum in Chicago - the oldest independent Black history museum in the country. In-person attendees will experience the full college fair, panels, and pep rally live, alongside a community of students and families making the same journey together in one room.
Important: virtual access isn't going away. Even as DUS grows its in-person footprint, the national livestream remains a permanent part of how DUS operates - because the accessibility that built this program from the beginning isn't something its founders are willing to lose.
Why DUS Matters
Nationally, undergraduate college enrollment has dropped roughly 15% since 2010, even as the cost of a degree has more than doubled. At the same time, the process of getting into college has become its own industry - private admissions consultants often cost thousands of dollars, and students from higher-income households consistently outscore lower-income peers on standardized tests, a gap tied directly to unequal access to preparation resources, not ability.
For first-generation and under-resourced students, this shapes whether college or alternative paths even feels like a reachable option in the first place. DUS was built to close that gap, not with another pamphlet, but with an experiential event where students can see themselves reflected in the people guiding them.
How to Get Involved
Whether you're a student, a parent, an educator, or an organization interested in supporting the mission, there are several ways to be part of DUS:
Attend virtually via the national livestream, free of charge.
Attend in person at the October summit in Chicago.
Host a Watch Party with your family, classroom, or community group - [read the full Watch Party guide here] for everything you need to host your own.
Partner or sponsor the summit as a business or organization aligned with the mission of expanding college and career access.
DUS is proof that a free, community-built idea - started by two people who'd never met in person - can grow into something that changes how an entire generation of students sees what's possible for their future.
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