Written by Sophie Rossitto // Photo by Jeff Montgomery
An African American organization on campus plans to host its second annual gala tomorrow at 7 p.m. in Cone Chapel to celebrate the importance of community and raise money to support Black students.
African American Alumni Association Vice President Briana Cunningham said the theme for the organization’s Sankofa Gala this year is “Ubuntu,” which means, “Because you are, I am.” She said this alumni association is a group that aims to help Black students attend Harding, remain on campus and get plugged into the community.
Cunningham said Harding alumnus Sammie Berry will be the keynote speaker at the gala. Naomi Valentine, the association’s secretary, said the formal event will also feature entertainment, including a live performance from the Black student vocal group, Justified.
Tickets for the gala cost $40 each, according to the Harding Homecoming event page. Valentine said anyone is welcome to attend.
“The idea of the gala is to bring all people together,” Valentine said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re Black, White, Hispanic, Chinese, whatever it is. It’s to bring all of us together because we are all one in Christ.”
Cunningham said her organization threw the gala last year to celebrate after officials dedicated the Anthony and Wright Administration Building and honored Harding’s first African American alumni and students. The association also saw the gala as an opportunity to raise money for an endowment they have been working to grow, Cunningham said, with the goal of providing need-based scholarships for students.
Valentine said her group reached out to University Communications and Marketing and received support from Harding administrators in planning the event. The gala last fall was very successful, Valentine said, and featured singing, food and entertainment.
The name of the gala, “Sankofa,” is an African word meaning “to go back and get it,” according to a Southern Illinois University article. Cunningham said this concept emphasizes moving into the future while remembering important things from the past.
She said this year’s theme, “Ubuntu,” encompasses the idea of living in community with people while caring for, respecting and acknowledging one another. Cunningham said she and two others on the alumni committee experienced this sense of fellowship as students through a scholarship program that allowed them to attend Harding.
“In giving us that financial help, there were people who not only decided to help manage a scholarship but to actually create a sense of belonging and community and support for us at Harding, which made all the difference in our experience,” Cunningham said.
Director of Diversity Services Tiffany Byers said she is sponsoring student leaders from the Black Student Association and the Multi-Cultural Student Action Committee to help them attend the gala. She said students will have opportunities to connect with Harding alumni during the event.
“I’m looking forward to it, and I’m sure the students will enjoy it as well, and if there’s anything I can do in the future to make it bigger and better, I’m always willing to do that,” Byers said.
