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Celeste Colbert

I found I could identify with a lot of the things Rita Kendagor articulated, and her story is worth telling—I feel that a lot of Black students in I-V will be able to relate. Some of my Black students have shared similar stories. I really resonated with the section dealing with her spiritual awakening and yet her feeling that it was at a cost of cultural and racial identity. I think a lot of students throughout the years in I-V have felt that, and I don’t think it is going away until there are more Black student I-V groups or there is more diversity within chapters. Rita’s feelings of anger naturally resonated with me—that people who could call themselves Christians would not reach out to Black students on their campus or would make insensitive remarks to the effect that I was okay because I “was so unlike other Black folks.”

Though I am now on InterVarsity staff I still struggle with how much of myself to give to I-V and whether it will be worth it in the end. Could I serve God and the Black community better in a different type of vocation? Lots of questions; few answers.

It’s important for I-V students and staff to know that these are not isolated incidents, but rather what many Black InterVarsity students face in pursuing Jesus on campus. For many Black students involved in I-V there’s a high cost they pay socially and culturally. InterVarsity chapter leaders need to understand that if they are not thinking of how to meet the needs of Black students, they are not really reaching out to the whole campus.

—Celeste Colbert has served with InterVarsity for six years, three of which have been with I-V’s Black Campus Ministries. She is currently BCM staff at St. Mary's College of California and UC–Davis. [Back to top.]

Tyren Edwards

I didn’t have a Black group on the side like Rita. I had my individual Black friends, but no other group to go to. But I (and some others) did feel this tension thing about sharing our true feelings—”but they won’t understand” (“they” being the white members of the fellowship). I held back most of the time.

I was also dealing with my identity, struggling with issues of Black femininity and Black history. I felt ostracized because I was in the honors section and there were few other Blacks in there with me. Was I less Black because I was a good student? I was dealing with this and other issues.

I found myself thinking, “This I-V is just not meeting all my needs as far as music and how things are done. It’s just not like my church background.” I did feel supported by staff workers, but the students just weren’t there. I think it’s because of the staff that I stayed around. I saw staff try to help other students to see that I had a voice, that I was different, that I could contribute.

I came on staff because God told me to. I was sold on Bible Study and wanted to help with that. I thought that since I was in Louisville and not in Lexington, maybe I could bring students in and things could be different. Again, I felt real supported by staff. They’d always make it a point to come and help me. They were real consistent about it.

—Tyren Edwards was a student in the mid-90s at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. She is currently on staff at the University of Louisville. She and her husband, Robert, are the proud parents of twins. [Back to top.]

Judith Brown

My first exposure to InterVarsity was stopping by the InterVarsity table on my community college campus. There were three white students sitting there, and not one talked to me. My friends had the same experience, and we were shocked. Our conclusion was that the only Christian group on campus was racist.

The I-V chapter at the time consisted of five white students. I remember my first visit to the group meeting—finding them huddled in a circle, one head barely coming up to say hello. After that I decided I never wanted to return. One of my friends, who looked Hispanic, decided to persist because she had befriended one of the members. She also got to know the itinerant staff worker, Paul Litten, who at the time was more needed on other campuses. Because of my friend’s involvement, Paul sought to get me involved too and so he sponsored us both to attend Urbana 93. It was a great experience, yet I came back to the same group of people. I was plugged into a great church and had great Christian friends, so I decided that I did not need InterVarsity. But once again Paul encouraged my friend and me to go to the Atlanta Urban Project (A.U.P). I prayed hard and decided to go, feeling anxiety mixed with excitement. That experience would change my perspective of InterVarsity and was pivotal to my continued involvement.

At A.U.P. 94 and 95, I realized there were Black students and staff in InterVarsity. My friend and I came back from the summer on fire, ready to do whatever the Lord wanted us to do on the campus. And so we plugged into the chapter again. The familiar group of students had all graduated. We had a great response that next year, and ended up with a group consisting of Black, Hispanic and white students. It felt like home.

But it wouldn’t be long before I was plucked out of my comfort zone. In the fall of 1995, I transferred to the University of Florida and had major culture shock. I felt so small and alone in a huge white chapter. There were about three other Black students in the group. I thank God that a few of the faces were familiar. And I had previously met the staff worker, Greg Jobe, who was new to that campus.

Upon my first visit to the group, I met some students from the Black Collegiate and Christian Fellowship (B.C.C.F.). It was so great to know there was a place where I could fellowship with other Black students. I decided to attend both meetings since I had a passion to bridge the gap between the two groups. It wasn’t long before the Lord would position me as a bridge. In fall 1996 I served as Vice President in the Black Collegiate and Christian Fellowship and as a B.C.C.F. representative on the exec of the other InterVarsity chapter. It was challenging to attend two large groups, two exec meetings and fulfill various responsibilities. The hardest part was being a bridge.

A bridge is made not only to connect two places but also to bear the weight of the people desiring to cross it. There were no easy solutions to the impending problem of the white chapter wanting B.C.C.F. to close down and join what they were doing and B.C.C.F. feeling unaffirmed as a separate group serving a different purpose. Our first big move was to establish joint large-group meetings twice a semester. The worship leaders worked together to meet the needs of all the students and we became more pro-active in getting Black speakers to share with the group. Those were major milestones and for the most part we had success with these meetings.

Some of the challenges I faced in the white chapter were due to the economic disparity between most members of the two chapters. For example, when my I-V friends invited me out to eat after a meeting, I’d usually decline, telling them that I didn’t have any money. They would tell me they’d wait for me while I went to the ATM machine or they would offer to loan me some money. They didn’t understand that I had no money. Many of my B.C.C.F. friends were also struggling financially, so we would usually just hang out at someone's house for games or a movie or just to talk and be together. The culture of the InterVarsity chapter was reflective of its make-up and so it was hard to feel as if we belonged.

The biggest issue was the worship. The Black students hated the guitar and the white students did not particularly like the keyboard. I personally enjoyed some of the “I-V type” songs but sometimes longed for some “soul.”

Another issue, minor but still important, was the way the chapter meeting room was set up. All the chairs were moved to the side and all the students would sit on the floor. All the students except the Black students that is. Most of the Black students—including me—would be sitting on chairs in the midst of those on the floor. Why? Because Black students dressed differently and we were more cautious about how and where we sat. In B.C.C.F. we all sat on chairs in a circle. Little things can make a world of difference in the process of crossing ethnic cultures and bridging the gap.

We built great relationships across leadership teams and had prayer partnerships as we hammered out the hard issues of reconciliation. After the reality hit home of how much sacrifice it would take to bridge the gap many students got discouraged, but at the end of the year we were further ahead than where we had begun.

—Judith Brown now staffs Clark Atlanta
University and Spelman College in Georgia [Back to top.]