With the Gävle rooms decorated in gold, the Black Student Union (BSU) hosted their annual Soul Food Dinner on Saturday, Nov. 15. Students, faculty, alumni and family met to have a cozy dinner accompanied by an educational presentation, student performances and dancing throughout the evening.
This year’s theme was “Denim and Gold,” and many attendees dressed accordingly, wearing variations of denim bottoms paired with gold or brown tops. Throughout the room were activities for attendees, including a photobooth and a lyric-matching game.
The Soul Food Dinner is hosted each year by BSU to bring people together at the start of the holiday season and to help ease the feelings of homesickness of those who can’t make it home to celebrate. According to BSU President, senior Reigna Hels, the event has been consecutively hosted for the past ten years, but had been happening irregularly in previous years.
The event started with opening remarks from Hels, who introduced the programming schedule for the night and the rest of BSU’s executive board.
Alumni Jacob Washington ‘21, a former BSU president, also spoke during the opening remarks, mentioning his organization “The Black Foundation.”
“I felt like I found my voice at Augustana, and this year, specifically with helping launch a black Augustana alumni connection, which focuses on strengthening the pipeline from current students to former students of Augustana,” Washington said. “I want[ed] to come back this year and make [alumni] presence known.”
The two were followed by a presentation from BSU’s executive board about the history of dance in Black culture. From hip-hop to viral TikTok dances, dancing is a key part of Black history, roots and culture.
At the talk’s conclusion, students played a Kahoot game based on the discussion, with the winners being the first to get their meals. Dinner was catered by local Quad Cities soul food vendor Soul Ties located in Davenport.
Augustana Strategic Communications and Media Outreach Specialist Jousha Blount was also in attendance.
“It’s just a way for me just to learn more about what they’re doing. And with me being African American myself, it can give me an idea as to what’s going on campus, and help me find a way to maybe be more involved,” Blount said.
After dinner, several students performed poetry, music and dance. The first of the evening was junior Kaiyana Washington, who read multiple poems. Sophomore Jaylen Clayton, stage name “Lil Jay”, later rapped for the crowd, and the final student performer of the night was Hels, who shared some of her own original poems, including one titled “The First Mother.”
The last performance of the night was by Augustana’s step group, Heavy Steppas. Led by junior Amiyah Woods, the group performed three dances at the dinner and opened sign-ups for recruits.
“I think [Step is] really fun. It’s a good space for people to come relax and take a breather away from school work,” Woods said.
As the evening wrapped up, all attendees were encouraged to get up and join in line dances. The evening concluded as songs like the “Cha-Cha Slide” and “Cupid Shuffle” played through the speakers.
