The banquet hall at Western Michigan University-Kalamazoo buzzed with excitement as over 275 students and faculty found their way to their tables for An Evening of Black Excellence, hosted by the InterVarsity chapter. They invited the black student organizations on campus to celebrate the accomplishments of their members. Awards were given for academic excellence in each organization and the Young Black Male Support Group was recognized for its leadership development.
The keynote speaker was Phil Bowling-Dyer, the national director of InterVarsity’s Black Campus Ministries. He spoke on the contrast between the image that the media presents of blacks and the image God presents in Scripture. Phil challenged the audience to shed the image that they saw on TV and in video games and accept that they are made in the image of a good and gracious God. As a metaphor for the image that the culture presents, each person had a small mirror, smudged and dirty, by their plate. At the end of Phil’s talk, the diners were invited to come up and have their mirror cleaned, and to accept the cleansing grace of Jesus into their lives. Five people came forward to become Christians.
As the evening ended small groups of people gathered and chatted. The glow of accomplishment shown on their faces as they looked forward to next year’s banquet.
