Herald & Review (Decatur, IL)
February 23, 1993
Section: Life
Page: A6
Breaking barriers
Millikin group works for understanding
VALERIE WELLS
H&R Community News Clerk
DECATUR -They have a dream.
The members of the Black Emphasis Association at Millikin University hope to break down barriers between ethnic groups.
“We’re deceiving ourselves if we think we’re separated, that we don’t need to learn how to appreciate and share other cultures and ideas,” said Eric Weldy, director of minority affairs at Millikin and faculty adviser to the Black Emphasis Association.
The organization is for all minority students, not just AfricanAmericans, Weldy said. It’s meant to be an educational tool for the Millikin community, a social organization, and to provide impetus for the hiring of minority professors and the establishment of courses concerning the black experience.
The club has 20 members.
“Our main campus goal is to educate people -make them aware of black issues and promote cultural diversity,” said Rewa Smith, president. Smith is a senior vocal music performance major from St. Petersburg, Fla.
Other officers are vice president Desmond Anderson of Decatur, a junior accounting major and editor of N Da Mix, the university’s minority newsletter; secretary Melissa Pursley, a sophomore marketing major from Park Forest; and treasurer Tiffany Griffin, a junior theater major from Indianapolis, Ind.
Club members were instrumental in getting an African-American experience class started, an extracurricular course taught by students. The club sponsors a gospel choir which will be featured at the gospel inspirational concert Saturday, Feb. 28, as part of Millikin’s observance of Black History Month.
It’s also a social club. Members go bowling and take trips to see events such as a stepshow at Illinois State University. A stepshow is a traditional type of dance performed on a hardwood floor in which the dancers create rhythms using only their hands and feet. African-American fraternities and sororities from Illinois colleges and universities will take part in a performance of a stepshow at Millikin on Saturday, Feb. 27.
And the club reaches out to the minority children in the Decatur public schools.
“They’d gotten away from that,” Weldy said, “but they’re much more involved now with tutoring and mentoring.
“We work with Project Yes at Mound Middle School,” Smith said, “and we’re having a black awareness party for kids ages 2 to 15, to learn about black history and our forefathers.”
The organization also raises money for the homeless and other charities. The Black Emphasis Association began in 1968 under the name For Soul Only.
There was an incident involving a black male student and three white female students. The other black students felt he’d been falsely accused and started the organization to create solidarity.
In 1970, the office of student affairs received a petition to set up a Black Culture House, where the organization could have meetings and activities. On May 1, 1970, students held a sit-in at the student activities center to lobby for official sanction of the organization, which ended with a circuit judge’s injunction to force them to leave. Black community leaders convinced the students to leave peaceably and meet with university officials.
The name was changed to Black Emphasis Association in 1982.
“We’re all interdependent,” Weldy said. “We need to realize that before it’s too late. Besides, the universe would be boring if everyone was exactly the same.”
February 23, 1993
Section: Life
Page: A6
Breaking barriers
Millikin group works for understanding
VALERIE WELLS
H&R Community News Clerk
DECATUR -They have a dream.
The members of the Black Emphasis Association at Millikin University hope to break down barriers between ethnic groups.
“We’re deceiving ourselves if we think we’re separated, that we don’t need to learn how to appreciate and share other cultures and ideas,” said Eric Weldy, director of minority affairs at Millikin and faculty adviser to the Black Emphasis Association.
The organization is for all minority students, not just AfricanAmericans, Weldy said. It’s meant to be an educational tool for the Millikin community, a social organization, and to provide impetus for the hiring of minority professors and the establishment of courses concerning the black experience.
The club has 20 members.
“Our main campus goal is to educate people -make them aware of black issues and promote cultural diversity,” said Rewa Smith, president. Smith is a senior vocal music performance major from St. Petersburg, Fla.
Other officers are vice president Desmond Anderson of Decatur, a junior accounting major and editor of N Da Mix, the university’s minority newsletter; secretary Melissa Pursley, a sophomore marketing major from Park Forest; and treasurer Tiffany Griffin, a junior theater major from Indianapolis, Ind.
Club members were instrumental in getting an African-American experience class started, an extracurricular course taught by students. The club sponsors a gospel choir which will be featured at the gospel inspirational concert Saturday, Feb. 28, as part of Millikin’s observance of Black History Month.
It’s also a social club. Members go bowling and take trips to see events such as a stepshow at Illinois State University. A stepshow is a traditional type of dance performed on a hardwood floor in which the dancers create rhythms using only their hands and feet. African-American fraternities and sororities from Illinois colleges and universities will take part in a performance of a stepshow at Millikin on Saturday, Feb. 27.
And the club reaches out to the minority children in the Decatur public schools.
“They’d gotten away from that,” Weldy said, “but they’re much more involved now with tutoring and mentoring.
“We work with Project Yes at Mound Middle School,” Smith said, “and we’re having a black awareness party for kids ages 2 to 15, to learn about black history and our forefathers.”
The organization also raises money for the homeless and other charities. The Black Emphasis Association began in 1968 under the name For Soul Only.
There was an incident involving a black male student and three white female students. The other black students felt he’d been falsely accused and started the organization to create solidarity.
In 1970, the office of student affairs received a petition to set up a Black Culture House, where the organization could have meetings and activities. On May 1, 1970, students held a sit-in at the student activities center to lobby for official sanction of the organization, which ended with a circuit judge’s injunction to force them to leave. Black community leaders convinced the students to leave peaceably and meet with university officials.
The name was changed to Black Emphasis Association in 1982.
“We’re all interdependent,” Weldy said. “We need to realize that before it’s too late. Besides, the universe would be boring if everyone was exactly the same.”
Copyright, 1993, Herald & Review, Decatur, IL