Gospel Fest fills Chapel with music and people

The university’s celebration of Black History Month continues on and off campus with a mix of events that included a celebratory evening in Memorial Chapel for Gospel Fest.

Headlined by award-winning gospel artist Kirk Franklin, the Feb. 12 event drew hundreds of people to the Chapel.

Franklin, who has been to Colgate several times, performed with the university’s Sojourners Gospel Choir and groups from several area universities, much to the delight of audience members who stood and sang with the choirs.

Other Black History Month events included a lunchtime discussion about the civil rights movement that featured several faculty members, including Professor Anthony Aveni, who discussed the protests held on campus in the late 1960s.

Coming up Feb. 19 is a trip to Harlem that will give students a chance to tour the New York City community and learn its history. A similar trip, also sponsored by the ALANA Cultural Center, was taken last year.

Several groups, including Late Gate and the Cushman Leadership and Academic House, are organizing a Feb. 23 trip to Utica to see the Broadway production of The Color Purple at the Stanley Theater.

And at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 28, Tim Wise will deliver the keynote lecture at Love Auditorium.

Wise, author of five books, has lectured across the nation on issues of comparative racism, race and education, racism and religion, and racism in the labor market. He is a regular contributor to discussions about race on CNN and in other media outlets.

For more information about specific events during Black History Month, see this calendar or contact ALANA at (315) 228-7330.