Students gathered in Allison Hall on April 19 dressed in their traditional African attire to dance, eat and mingle.

This year, the African Diasporic and Cultural Collective (ADCC) set out to expand their influence. After hearing some concerns surrounding the African students and representation in the previously named “Black Student Union” (BSU), ADCC executive board members rethought the way they ran their organization. 

One of the many ways ADCC has enforced this new change is the recently hosted “Diasporic Affair,” more commonly referred to as “African Night”. Students saw a need for a formal celebration of African culture on campus considering a lot of Black and international student populations are made up of African students. 

An event like this, according to Celeste Hopson ’24, hasn’t happened since 2014. Ten years ago, the Spring African Banquet and Fashion show stood as a wonderful marker of African culture on campus. Though events like these have been curated before, this is the first time ADCC, formerly BSU, has ever hosted an event focusing on and highlighting solely African communities, Rahma Semma ’25 said.

Semma and Roberta Akrong ’24 came together to create a safe space for students identifying as African to work on the cultivation of this event to insure they felt represented. Through an online group chat, other students like Blessing Agbonlaho ’26 and Seblewongel Enyew ’25 became more involved with the culmination of the event. 

According to Semma, students banded together to create the vision and left the logistics of the event to the ADCC exec board. Because the event was birthed out of a need for more events spotlighting the African presence on campus, the influence of these students was integral. 

Everything down to the playlist was decided by African students. In the aftermath of the event, students expressed feelings of immense gratitude and community. This bright event should serve as an annual reminder that African students exist, thrive and belong on Dickinson College’s campus.