Many Walla Walla University student clubs center around sharing cultural experiences. Several student-led churches offer culturally diverse worship opportunities each week, in a similar effort to provide an inclusive, vibrant environment of faith. This spring, the impact of these groups has reached beyond the borders of the College Place campus.
Hispanic Worship Outreach
Last quarter, Nuestra Iglesia, Hispanic Ministries and LatinX Club partnered with WWU Hispanic Staff Association to host a joint worship service at Kennewick Spanish Adventist Church. Many gathered for Sabado Joven to sing, pray, share testimonies and play Bible games. WWU students shared how God led in their lives and brought them to WWU.
George Perez, assistant professor of business and a representative of the Hispanic Staff Association, said these kinds of collaborations bring the community together and build connections around Hispanic culture and worship.
Black Student Leadership Summit
Student leaders of WWU’s Black Student Christian Forum club traveled to participate in the first Black Adventist Student Association Leadership Summit in January. The new event was the brainchild of WWU students and others from Pacific Union College, La Sierra University and Loma Linda University. The summit brought together Black student associations to collaborate and share about their work. Sponsored by NPUC, the event was able to feature a number of keynote speakers, including Timothy Golden, WWU professor of philosophy.
Liberty Anderson, sophomore business marketing major and president of the BSCF club, shared about the club’s popular events and their focus on making the outdoors more accessible for people of color. “My personal mission as a Black student leader is to make it easier for those who come after me,” said Anderson. “I want to have the difficult conversations and break the barriers so our club and our people can thrive, and so students of color can feel celebrated.”
Anderson is excited that the Black Adventist Student Association Leadership Summit will be an annual event and hopes to involve more students in the future.
Learn more about organizations on campus that support and celebrate diversity at wallawalla.edu/diversity.
