Students Reflect on Black History Month Gala
By Elaine Qiao and Lily Rampe
On Feb. 3, Black-identifying students gathered for the Academy’s second-ever affinity-only Black History Month Gala. The idea was first conceived by alumnus Ifeoma Ajufo ‘22 last year and continued this year by students and faculty. At the gala, students were able to celebrate their culture, history, and community while enjoying a variety of soul food and music.
Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA) proctors, faculty, and student leaders collaborated to realize the Black History Month Gala. “Affinity group leaders like Ethan-Judd Barthelemy and Keanen Andrews put a lot of work into planning it. It was like a big surprise for everyone attending,” prep Alex Trotman said.
Working on the gala was senior Keanen Andrews’ OMA proctor project. “My inspiration for the event came during my prep year. During Black History Month we had a Black chef come to campus and cook for the students on campus,” Andrews said. “Since then, there hasn’t been any sort of similar event. Knowing that every OMA proctor does an OMA project, I wanted to do something revolving around food. It just so happened to be that my parents are also Black chefs.”
“They’ve been cooking for over 20 years,” Andrews continued. “They’ve owned a restaurant, they’ve owned a food truck, they even have a catering company so people can hire them to cater any type of food they want. So I wanted to bring them out to campus and [do] a soul food dinner during Black History Month because I know people would very much enjoy the food to remind them of home…Also it’s a good meal to have in the cold winter.”
The gala took collaboration between many students. “I also worked with EJ,” Andrews said. “We did it together.”
“I wanted to make it more than just serving food, and I wanted to teach people a little bit about the historical ties between soul food and the American South and culture.”
Senior EJ Barthelemy incorporated his passion for photography into the gala. “I did a photoshoot with about 10 or 12 Black students in the studio, and we projected a slideshow of the pictures on the screen throughout the event,” Barthelemy said. “With this project, I aimed to give people another medium to freely express their identities and personalities.”
Many other students assisted as well. “I helped out with some of the decorations by setting them up in Grainger, and setting up the photo booth,” lower Eliana Hall added.
Andrews sought to add an educational dimension to the gala as well. “I wanted to make it more than just serving food, and I wanted to teach people a little bit about the historical ties between soul food and the American South and culture,” Andrews said.
Soul food is an ethnic cuisine traditionally prepared and eaten by African Americans and originating in the southern United States.
Students described the catered food to be a major highlight of the gala. “The food was incredible,” Trotman said. “It was made by Keanen’s family, and it reminded me of home.”
Upper Janelle Bobb agreed. “The food was some of the best food I’ve had during my entire Exeter experience. The candied yams were delicious, but my favorite feature of the meal was the mac and cheese.”
Barthelemy thanked the faculty involved in realizing the gala. “Dean Camilius and Courtney Shaw spearheaded this event and made it all possible. The work they put into this allowed us all to come together and have an amazing time,” he said.
Through the hard work of students and faculty, attendees described having an incredible time. Bobb recalled lasting memories from the gala. “It was great being around a bunch of people with similar experiences as me. Toward the end of the gala, we took pictures, danced, and chatted among friends. It was just a nice time overall,” said Bobb.
Hall agreed. “The music was great and it built community by dancing to songs we enjoy. Coming together in our dance circle allowed everyone to feel comfortable.”
Upper Quinn Coaxum reflected on the stress-free environment and outfits.“Any excuse to dress up is a fun one in my opinion. I think it’s nice to see everyone in their best outfits looking great, taking pictures that you’re gonna remember years later, just having a good time talking about nothing. We are not worried about homework. There’s no stress that’s involved with it. So it’s just a good space, good time to look nice and be with your friends,” Coaxum said.
Looking towards future Black History Month events, students that attended this event have hopes of expanding and improving the event in coming years.
Barthelemy said, “This was only the second time we’ve had the event. Ifeoma Ajufo ‘22 put the first one together last year. So my vision is to see this event grow as much as possible. I think it brought many people joy and deserves to be a lasting tradition at Exeter.”
Trotman agreed, “I, along with many others in the Black community believe that an increase in funding from the Academy would be beneficial. By supporting affinity groups like Afro-Latinx Exonian Society (ALES), Students of Caribbean Ancestry (SOCA), Black Students of Excellence (BSE), Young Brothers Society (YBS), and Transitions financially, we can have more events, and educate more Exonians about Black history.”
“It’d be nice to do things outside of Black History Month,” Coaxum added. “Just because it’s technically Black History Month doesn’t mean that there shouldn’t be events during other months as well.”
Andrews reflected on the Academy’s Black History Month celebrations as a whole, saying, “OMA built a very vast kind of curriculum [with] things that we wanted to get done throughout Black History Month, [such as] inviting guest speakers, having food events, having opportunities to see each other, and see[ing] Black culture prevalent on campus. I love that they were able to work with not only OMA proctors, but also students.”
Andrews continued, remarking on the importance of such programming. “Whether it was showing Black Panther in the Forum or taking students out to see Jo Kelley or listening to Rita Dove speak, [these events] makes us feel seen and present on campus. Thanks to the Academy [and] thanks to OMA for all their efforts to make Black History Month better and better every single year,” Andrews said.
Barthelemy echoed Andrews’ sentiment. “I think that this is a time to come together and celebrate our heritage and also our presence on campus. This is one of the greatest senses of community that I’ve felt here at Exeter, and I think a lot of people feel the same way.”
Photo courtesy of EJ Barthelemy
