BU Cel­e­brates Black His­tory Month 

MISHAWAKA--The month of Feb­ru­ary is des­ig­nated as Black His­tory Month in the United States of Amer­ica, and Bethel tra­di­tion­ally hosts events high­light­ing top­ics per­tain­ing to what has hap­pened and what is hap­pen­ing in dif­fer­ent eth­ni­cally Black back­grounds. The goal is to come to­gether as one and learn about each other and ways that we can con­tinue to serve God and make every­one feel ac­cepted no mat­ter who they are.  

The di­ver­sity and in­clu­sion team has come to­gether and planned events through­out the month for any­one to at­tend and help cre­ate com­mu­nity within Bethel’s cam­pus. Co­or­di­na­tor of the Field Scholar Pro­gram Li­fase Bil­ima stressed the im­por­tance of every­one learn­ing more about Black his­tory. 

“Black his­tory is part of Amer­i­can his­tory,” Bil­ima said.  

The team wants to cre­ate a space to en­joy each oth­er’s com­pany but also a time to learn some­thing new or the im­por­tance of events in his­tory. This year there are chapel speak­ers, a movie night, a jazz event and a time for peo­ple to learn about Quilt codes used in the Un­der­ground Rail­road.  

On Feb. 6, Pas­tor YPJ Miller spoke in chapel. On Sat­ur­day, Feb. 18, there will be Jazz Mu­sic in the Din­ing Com­mons from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and a jazz con­cert in the Ever­est-Rohrer Au­di­to­rium at 7:30. Mon­day, Feb. 20, guest speaker Sharon Tin­dall will be shar­ing in chapel and teach­ing how to make quilt codes di­rectly fol­low­ing. There will also be a movie night on Tues­day, Feb. 21, with free chipo­tle for the first 50 at­ten­dees. The fi­nal event of the month cur­rently planned is a "Black The­ol­ogy Is The­ol­ogy” work­shop on Wednes­day, Feb. 22, at 10 a.m. in AC415. Chapel credit is be­ing of­fered for this event.  

Be sure to keep an eye out for posters and an­nounce­ments through­out the month as a re­minder of up­com­ing events!