BAC leaders call conference ‘total success’

By Gus Bode

Students from across the country traveled to Carbondale this weekend to promote Awareness in black community at the sixth annual Black Affairs Council Leadership Conference at SIUC, which conference leaders claim is the most successful in its six year history

This year’s theme was Education, Economics and Empowerment:Foundations for the Black Agenda.

Dwight Gunn, coordinator of the conference, said this year’s conference was a total success and ended better than the council had thought.

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This just proves what students can do when they get together and set their minds on something, he said. We focused on what could acheive and not what we couldn’t.

Gunn said all of the planning for the conference came together very quickly and everyone did their jobs very well.

This conference is one of the most successful ever held in this country, he said.

Anthony Cherry, a student from Western Illinois, said he is glad he made the trip down to attend the conference.

This has been an excellent experience, he said. Events such as this should be implemented not only in a conference setting, but also academically everday. Everyone should have to attend a conference like this.

The conference events included guest speaker, including Benjamin Chavis, workshops and gave students time to network.

Cherry said all the events he attended will benefit him in the future.

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I learned a lot of things I didn’t know and reinforced many things I knew already, he said.

Troy Alim, coordinator of the Black Affairs Council, said this year’s conference showed how they could bounce back from last year’s conference which ended with a few problems

Last year the council invited Khallid Abdul Muhammad, former assistant to the Nation of Islam Leader Louis Farrakhan, to the conference.

The SIUC administration notified the council that extra security, costing more than $6,700, would be necessary because of Muhammad’s visit. The money had to come from the council.

This year was a total success, Alim said.

Alim said the great thing about the conference was that everyone came together and acheived a common goal.

Everyone came together and when a problem it seemed so insignificant because everyone knew what to do, he said.

Christi Harber, a senior in public relations, along with another student picked Chavis up at Lambert Airport in St. Louis on Saturday.

Harber said it was an honor to have met and shared time with a leader who has the status of Chavis.

I felt like it was an honor and a blessing to have rode with and spent time with a man I admire and respect such as Dr. Chavis, she said. We he spoke he told the truth and talked about a lot of topics that needed to be touched on.

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