Photos // Rafael Tortolero 

THIS IS BLACK EXCELLENCE. Black Student Union members current and past pose for a photo to end the night.

BSU hosts second annual Evening of Black Excellence

By: Claire McKenna 

Staff-Writer

Closing out Black History Month, Black Student Union held their second annual Evening of Black Excellence on Feb. 28. The night consisted of a dinner, live music and a variety of speakers from the community and IU South Bend. 

Attendees were asked at the beginning of the night to think about what Black excellence meant to them. Each speaker had their own definition and expressed it using a unique medium. Zachary Gillis started off by singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” widely known as the Black national anthem, and Brie Simmons followed, performing an original song. Amber Brown gave poetry readings, and a painting by Natalie Sholley was also presented. 

Women and Gender Studies professor Dr. Darryl Heller, who also directs the Civil Rights Heritage Center, spoke as well. He defined what Black Excellence meant to him and what we should all strive for in our lives: education, curiosity, community and Black love.  

Finally, the keynote speaker of the night, Charlotte Pfeifer-Gillam, spoke. Pfeifer-Gillam is an IU South Bend alumna and former administrator that has made strides in advancing diversity and building community at IU South Bend. After graduating in 1976 with a B.A. in history and in 1981 with an M.P.A., she returned in 1995 and founded the Office of Campus Diversity which supported access and success for underrepresented faculty, staff and students, including establishing student unions for marginalized groups. 

Pfeifer-Gillam also directed student and community relations, supervising the Child Development Center, the Student Counseling Center and more. She retired in 2013 but taught in a variety of subjects – including labor studies, women’s and gender studies, social work and more – as an adjunct until 2020.  

At this event, she spoke about her childhood and her family and shared thoughts about being Black, being excellent and the Black church. She said that Black people are hard to get rid of, but people do try. 

“You have to do an awful lot of interracial marriage to get rid of this kinky hair and this Black skin. But people work on it,” she said. “But you can always tell, can’t you tell? Don’t you love it? And aren’t we beautiful? All this Blackness is why we made it. And I’m saying that all this Blackness is why all of you made it.” 

She then moved on to Black excellence, the theme of the night.  

“Well, excellence is having a goal. One of the goals for us was to survive,”  she said. “Excellence also is excelling. It’s not just surviving, it’s thriving. Also, excellence is influence. We make a way out of no way, and then we sustain it.” 

Lastly, she preached for the Black church.  

“So you have to believe in something greater than man, because human beings are flawed,” she said. “Human beings will let you down. You will let yourself down because you get tired. But if you know there’s something greater out there, that’ll get you up in the morning.” 

After Pfeifer-Gillam finished and we heard from a few more speakers, the BSU leadership had a Q&A panel to end the night. They answered questions like who inspired them, what they are looking for in the future and what Black excellence meant to them. 

If you missed this year’s Evening of Black Excellence or want to keep up with BSU’s future events, find them on Titan Atlas or on Instagram @bsu.iusb.