California State University Chancellor Charles Reed had one message to black families during the Sunday morning service at St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church: Black children can get into the CSU system.

Reed spoke to about 1,000 parishioners at the church in Sacramento’s Oak Park neighborhood, emphasizing that good college education is a necessity in today’s competitive job market.

“You as parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles can give no greater gift to your children than a college education,” Reed said.

Sunday’s event was part of the annual CSU Super Sunday event, an initiative to inform black communities across the state about preparing and applying for college. Also present was Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson.

Sacramento State President Alexander Gonzalez and Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Joseph Sheley relayed the same message on Sunday at two different black churches in Sacramento. This year’s Super Sunday took place at 22 black churches in Northern California, according to a CSU press release.

“Our focus is doing everything that we can for African-Americans to understand what it takes to go to college,” Reed said.

Reed said black students face two major challenges in getting a college education.

“One is getting prepared for college education and knowing what classes to take,” Reed said. “Two is knowing when and how to apply for admissions and how to request for financial aid.”

Despite today’s higher education crisis, Reed assured that eligible black students would still be able to get into the CSU and have financial aid.

“The ones that were turned down were not eligible and we recommended that they go to a community college if they haven’t taken all the classes,” Reed said.

Reed said students who come from a family that makes less than $70,000 a year will not have to pay for college.

Sac State Financial Aid Office Director Craig Yamamoto and representatives from Admissions and Outreach, Equal Opportunity Program and Capital Fellows Programs also distributed informational booklets and fliers and answered questions from families and students.

“We are the predominant university in the region, and we offer quality education and affordable service, so it is important for Admissions and Outreach to be here and let them know the opportunities we have to offer,” said admissions counselor Charles Cole.

David Ortega, academic outreach coordinator for the Equal Opportunity Program, said they want black students to be able to get into the program.

Reed said preparation for college should start during middle school, emphasizing the importance for sixth graders and above to take and pass challenging courses that would better prepare them for a college education at the CSU.

“Tell your teachers and principals you want your kids to go to college,” Reed said.

Now in its fifth year, the CSU Super Sunday initiative has reached 100 churches across the state, according to a CSU press release.

Reed said the number of black students who attended the CSU has increased by 28 percent since 2005.

“This means we have 5,000 more African-American students attending the CSU today than we have five years ago,” Reed said.

Parishioner and junior family studies major Adrienne Bushrod, who attended last year’s Super Sunday event where Gonzalez spoke, said it helped her make the transition from a returning student to a full-time student at Sac State.

Bushrod said she was out of college for 20 years before going to Sacramento City College and transferring to Sac State.

“I spoke to a counselor during last year’s Super Sunday,” Bushrod said. “Then I knew what I needed to do.”

Kristine Guerra can be reached at [email protected].