By Sophie Saint-Firmin, News Editor
Each year multiple universities from the Council of Christian Universities attend the Student Congress on Racial Reconciliation (SCORR) conference at Biola University in California. This was Asbury’s third year attending the conference; this year’s theme was Legacy: Justice, Righteousness, Reconciliation.
Last semester, students who showed interest in attending the conference went to an informational meeting where they then sent in an application. They were interviewed by Intercultural Affairs Coordinator Maria Brown, Assistant Vice President of Intercultural Affairs Esther Jadhav and Vice President of Student Intercultural Programs Stephanie Beltran.
Each candidate had the opportunity to explain why they feel they would benefit from going to the conference. If selected, each student had to agree to host an event of their choosing during the spring 2019 semester. These events will showcase what they learned from the conference and what they feel is an issue of which the student body needs to be informed. These will be held in the form of a panel or talk back session later this semester.
Seven students were selected to attend the conference. “The group dynamic was great; we all come from such different cultures, ethnicities and backgrounds,” said Caleb Norris. “Getting so many different perspectives really made SCORR even that much better.”
Among these students were Breana Staten ’21, Caleb Norris ’20, Madeline Smart ’20, Betsy Thacker ’20, Sophie Saint-Firmin ’20, Demarion Johnson ’21 and Stephanie Beltran ’19.
The students flew into Los Angeles International and traveled to Biola, which is located in La Mirada, California, just outside of Los Angeles. Upon arriving the first night, there was a worship mosaic in the chapel where students from Biola led the crowd in a bilingual worship service.
The following two days were filled with sessions featuring speakers from all over the country. Each session involved different biblical or social perspectives.
“Through this year’s theme, we seek to pause and reflect on how justice, righteousness and reconciliation were values taught and exemplified throughout the Bible and throughout church history,” said Glen Kinoshita, director of SCORR during the conference.
After each session, the Asbury students would reflect on what they each learned and how they would like to bring their new perspectives back to campus.
“From SCORR, I learned that the role for people involved with racial reconciliation is to be a bridge, and sometimes bridges get stepped on,” said Beltran. “I’d want people to know how important the discussion of racial reconciliation is, especially through a biblical perspective.”
