Since Day 1 at Berea College

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SINCE DAY 1

CommittedtoInterracialEducationsince1855

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PROFILE OF BEREA

INVESTING IN LIVES SINCE 1855

"Best Bang for the Buck in the Southern US"

- Washington Monthly #1

"Best Value College in the US"

- Wall Street Journal

Top 1%

"Best Liberal Arts Colleges"

- Washington Monthly

Berea College believes your income shouldn't limit your outcome. Because of our unique mission to serve highachieving students with limited financial resources, we are and have always been a college unlike any other.

Your future is bright at Berea College.

“I was convinced I could never afford to attend college and pursue my dreams—but then I found Berea. The No-Tuition Promise made the impossible possible for me and my family.”

- Seth from Hazard, Kentucky

“The possibilities for my future are endless. Berea’s No-Tuition Promise ensures my hard work is being rewarded, and helps my family in the process. It allows me to graduate with little to no debt and a bright future.”

- Shadia from Knoxville, TN

47% of Berea Grads study abroad.

1,400+ 60+

125+ 14 47% 100%

number of total students enrolled at Berea. departments from which students can choose to work. areas of study.

id the average number of students in each class. of students identify as a person of color. of students don't pay tuition.

Areas of Study Major Minor

African and African American Studies

Agriculture and Natural Resources

Appalachian Studies

Applied Math and Science

Art: History & Art: Studio

Asian Studies

Biology

Broadcast Journalism

Business

Chemistry

Child and Family Studies

Classical Studies

Communication

Computer and Information Science

Creative Writing

Dance

Digital Media

Economics

Education Studies

(Includes 14 certification programs)

Engineering Technologies and Applied Design

English

Film Production

Forest Resource Management

French

German

Health and Human Performance

Health Studies

History

Law, Ethics, and Society

Mathematics

Music

Nursing

Peace and Social Justice Studies

Philosophy

Physics

Political Science

Psychology

PRE-PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMS

Pre-Engineering

Pre-Law

Pre-Medical/Dental

Pre-Pharmacy

Pre-Veterinary

Social Work (Child & Family Studies)

LANGUAGES AVAILABLE

Chinese

French

German

Japanese Latin Spanish

SAMPLE INDEPENDENT MAJORS

CREATE YOUR OWN APPROVED MAJOR, SUCH AS: Anthropological Archaeology

Biomedical Sciences

Film and Video Studies

Outdoor Education & Recreation

Neuroscience

Sustainable Environmental Studies

WOMEN'S

Basketball

Cross Country

Soccer

Softball

Tennis

Track & Field

Volleyball

MEN'S

Religion

Studies of Religions and Spirituality

Baseball Basketball

Sociology

Sociology

Spanish

Sustainability and Environmental Studies

Theatre

Women’s and Gender Studies

Cross

Golf

Soccer

Tennis

Track & Field

GET INVOLVED ON CAMPUS!

S.Q.U.A.D.

Sisterhood of Queens United Among Diasporas provides space for young Black and Brown women to feel included, empowered, and celebrated. Students are mentored to learn the key principles of self-love, authenticity, resilience, respect, and camaraderie.

SAZON LATINO

A dance club that promotes Latinx dances on campus as well as in the community. The group enriches the understanding and immersion of Latin American dancing, heritage, and culture through lessons, performances, workshops, and activities.

HISPANIC OUTREACH PROJECT

HOP aims to build bridges among the Spanish-speaking and English-speaking residents of Madison County. Volunteers offer translation services, as well as Spanish classes at local elementary schools and English as a Second Language (ESL) tutoring for Spanish-speaking adults.

LATINO MALE INITIATIVE

The initiative highlights campus resources for Latino men, addresses challenges and forms opportunities in higher education, and offers a space to recognize and celebrate cultural identities in combination mentorship support and peer solidarity.

DID YOU KNOW?

62% of Berea College students

graduate debt free. Every student gets a scholarship that covers

tution and we and keep room, board, and other fees low or (even $0) depending on your family’s finances.

AFRICAN-LATIN PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE

An ensemble that performs a variety of rhythms based on the traditional drumming styles of the Caribbean, West Africa, and South America.

NATIONAL SOCIETY OF BLACK ENGINEERS

Intensive programs for increasing Black and other ethnic minority participation in the fields of engineering technology. The program will strengthen relations between the professional industry and the Black community.

BLACK MALE LEADERSHIP INITIATIVE

This program offers a space for solidarity, support and mentorship for Black men as they actuallize goals, recognize opportunities, and acheive academically. The intiative aspires to promote community, leadership, and action.

BLACK MUSIC ENSEMBLE

This singing ensemble is dedicated to the preservation and performance of AfricanAmerican sacred music. The repertoire will consist primarily of gospel and spiritual music as understood in its historical and social context.

MARIACHI BEREA

Mariachi is led by powerful vocals and accompanied by trumpet, violin, guitar, vihuela and guitarrón. Berea holds the distinctuion as only collegiate Mariachi Band in the state, proudly representing Latinx communities as fastest growing demographic in Appalachia.

BLACK STUDENT UNION

BSU's purpose is to become a change agent that empowers the African American community, develops leaders, facilitates cultural awareness, and fosters a safe space for social and intellectual growth, particularly from the perspective of those of African descent.

THE LIFE OF DR. CARTER G. WOODSON

Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950) was born in New Canton, Fluvanna County, Virginia, during the American Reconstruction. He was the son of formerly enslaved African Americans, James and Eliza Riddle Woodson, and the family moved to West Virginia at the end of the Civil War. Despite a lack of access to formal education, Woodson was able to master common school subjects’ fundamentals by age 17 through self-instruction.

Woodson joined his two older brothers working in the coal mines of Huntington, West Virginia but was unable to devote much time to school instruction due to a demanding work schedule. However, by age 20 in 1895, he began attending Douglass High School, a school recently established as one of the few public high schools available to African American youth.

Next, Woodson enrolled in Berea College in 1897. He graduated from Berea with a Bachelor of Literature degree in 1903. While attending Berea College, Woodson also served as principal of Douglass High School and taught in Winona, WV, at a school established by African American coal miners to educate their children. Perhaps in anticipation of Kentucky’s strengthening segregation laws, or possibly because of them, Woodson would complete the remainder of his Berea College work at the University of Chicago in 1903, one year ahead of the formal passage of the Kentucky Day Law.

Woodson continued his education at the University of Chicago, where in addition to a second bachelor’s degree, he earned a Master’s degree in European History in 1908. He became the second African American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard, following Dr. W. E. B. Du Bois in 1907.

Woodson became an African American historian, author of over 27 books and articles, journalist and founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, and the founder of the Journal of Negro History. Woodson saw first-hand the harm of white-centric education, described in his book, The Mis-Education of the Negro, “If you teach the Negro that he

“Real education means to inspire people to live more abundantly, to learn to begin with life as they find it and make it better.”
- Dr. Woodson

has accomplished as much good as any other race he will aspire to equality and justice without regard to race. Such an effort would upset the program of the oppressor in Africa and America.”

Woodson founded Negro History week in 1926, which later became Black History Month. He believed, “What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice.”

Woodson is remembered as “the father of black history.” Today, schools, universities, businesses, and people worldwide observe Black History Month to eradicate gaps in education systems still plagued by white centrism and celebrate African American contributions as valuable and significant.

50+ YEARS OF BLACK EXCELLENCE

The Black Student Union held its first Scholarship Pageant in 1970 as a way to showcase, embrace, and celebrate African and African-American history and culture through student talents. Over the years, the Black Student Scholarship Pageant has transformed into a cultural avenue. The Pageant highlights outstanding Multi-cultural and Multi-ethnic Students that have gathered to uplift the Black community on campus and in the community. In addition, the Black Student Union Scholarship Pageant calls attention to the idea that Black history is American history.

The Scholarship Pageant focuses on giving the contestants a chance to grow and become their best selves. It not only takes into account the contestant's talents and performance abilities but their entire experience and their ability to present their best selves confidently. Although the Scholarship Pageant is a competition, we also focus on building community and friendships among each contestant and volunteer. This Scholarship Pageant is a reminder that we are unified in our struggles. We are devoted to uplifting the voices of the African and African-American communities in efforts to promote positive change.

A LEGACY OF DIVERSE ALUMNI

1866

ISABELLE MITCHEL attended Berea in 1866 and went on to be a teacher at Camp Nelson and then the principal of a black school in Lexington, KY. She was a founding member of Lexington’s Colored Orphan Industrial Home and was active in the Kentucky Colored Women’s Club Movement.

1874

MARY E. BRITTON earned a medical degree after graduating from Berea and became the first African-American female doctor in the state of Kentucky, practicing in Lexington. She was an educator, physician, journalist, and civil rights activist who dedicated herself fully to the good of her people.

1884

JAMES S. HATHAWAY was born a slave in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky. He was Berea’s first black professor of Latin, science, & mathematics. Hathaway also served as a clerk of the town of Berea. He went on to become the president of Kentucky State University in Frankfort –Kentucky’s only historically black university.

1894

KIRKE SMITH served as Principal at the Lebanon County School and played a vital role as solicitor of funds in the campaign to build Berea's Lincoln Institute following Kentucky's Day Law. He then served as Dean of the Normal Department and Dean of Men at Lincoln Institute until 1933.

1902

MARY E. MERRIT was a graduate of Berea College’s nursing program and the first African American to be licensed as a registered nurse in Kentucky. She served as the superintendent of the Red Cross Hospital in Louisville for 34 years and was awarded the Mary Mahoney Medal for distinguished service in nursing.

1954

JESSIE REASON ZANDER was the first African American to graduate after the segregationist Day Law was set aside. She went on to be a teacher, school administrator, and poet, touching the lives of thousands of students during her career in Kentucky and Arizona, as well as through her world-wide travels.

2013

DEREK DEANDRE was a two-time semi-finalist on the “Project Runway” show with his own designs. He is a freelance designer, graphic artist and photographer, and the founder of his own clothing brand, Love & Osker. He also earned a master’s degree in human environmental sciences from the University of Alabama.

2014

MARIA DIAZ is a first-generation college grad with a passion for education and health equity. She is currently Director of Persistence and Pre-College Programs at the Carolina Youth Coalition and has earned a Master of Public Health from the University of North Carolina.

2019

DERBY CHUKWUDI majored in Business Administration and Economics and held work program positions as an Accounts Payable Assistant and News Writer. While at Berea she was listed as a Forbes 30 under 30 Scholar and took part in the Stanford Future Leaders Program. She now works at JPMorgan Chase & Co. as a Markets Strategy Analyst.

2019

ISSAC DOMENECH majored in Chemistry and was captain of the men's soccer team. While at Berea, he interned at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Stanford University School of Medicine before graduating. He is now a medical student at the University of Kentucky.

2020

ANNE OTIENO majored in Economics and Computer Science and held work program positions as an Economics Teaching Assistant and Student Software Developer. Before graduating, she got an internship that lead to a fulltime job in analytics, putting her major to good use. She also has a YouTube channel called "Study Abroad with Anne."

2021

EMELY ALFARO-ZAVALA gained a Work Program position in the college’s information technology department, which inspired her to double-major in business and computer science. Berea paid for her to attend a Women in Computing conference where she got connected to an internship with Google, leading to a technical residency in cloud computing job with Google after graduation.

OUR INCLUSIVE HISTORY

1832

John G. Fee establishes Berea College, the first interracial and coeducational college in the South.

1861

During the Civil War, John G. Fee worked as a missionary trying to bring order, education and humanity to the refugee camp for escaped and freed slaves at Camp Nelson in Kentucky, a Union Army camp.

1872

Julia Britton Hooks becomes Berea’s first African American teacher.

1903

Carter G. Woodson graduates from Berea College, later becoming the second African American man to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard.

1859

Angry mob expels Berea College faculty, staff and students from Madison County, Kentucky.

1866

Berea College reopens with newly discharged African American troops among the first graduating classes.

1874

John H. Jackson becomes first African American college graduate of Berea and the state of Kentucky.

1904 Kentucky Senate passes Day Law aimed specifically at Berea College, forcing it into segregation.

1908 Berea College appeals Day Law to the United States Supreme Court.

1926

Carter G. Woodson establishes Negro History Week.

1912

United States Supreme Court overrules Berea College’s Day Law appeal; Berea College establishes Lincoln Institute for segregated black students.

1954

Jessie Reasoner Zander becomes Berea College’s first black graduate after Day Law is repealed.

1965

Berea College group of faculty and students travel to participate in Selma-Montgomery March.

2011 Berea College establishes the Carter G. Woodson Center for Interracial Education.

1997

1997

Dr. Carter G. Woodson

Dr. Carter G. Woodson

Diversity Weekend visitation program established for prospective minority

Diversity Weekend visitation program established for prospective minority students.

2015 Berea College President Lyle Roelofs and members of the original Berea College marchers along with current students return to participate in the 50th Anniversary SelmaMontgomery March.

2020 Students, faculty, and staff participate in Black Lives Matter marches and demonstrations on campus and in Berea, KY. President Roelofs reaffirms the college’s commitment to

2021 Students, faculty, and staff demonstrate in solidarity with Stop Asian Hate in response to shootings in Atlanta and the rise in antiAsian sentiment related to

2022

The Black Cultural Center and Black Student Union asked the campus community to come together for a walk and vigil in memory of Tyre Nichols and the many other Black Lives cut way too short by police.

bell hooks celebrating her legacy

The bell hooks center at Berea College celebrates the life and work of acclaimed intellectual, feminist theorist, cultural critic, and writer bell hooks. The center periodically brings together regional and national scholars and thinkers with local community members to study, learn and engage in critical dialogue.

bell hooks was a Distinguished Professor in Residence in Appalachian Studies at Berea College. She authored over thirty books and is known as a champion of intersectionality in feminist thought. The acclaimed writings of bell hooks cover topics of gender, race, class, spirituality, teaching, and the significance of media in contemporary culture.

hooks’ presence at the center attracted many influential voices to Berea’s campus, such as iconic writer and activist Gloria Steinem and actress and United Nations Women Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson.

bell wrote of the values of wildness, of renegade living. She suggested

that her own “radical critical consciousness” was learned at home in a Kentucky community of African Americans from the backwoods about the need for freedom and the responsibility that comes with freedom.

“I

will not have my life narrowed down. I will not bow down to somebody else’s whim or to someone else’s ignorance.”

- bell hooks, 1952-2021

bell hooks with Emma Watson at Berea College
In 2020, TIME Magazine selected bell hooks as one of its 100 Women of the Year. From TIME. © 2020 TIME USA LLC. All rights reserved. Used under license. Art by Monica Ahanonu.

¡HOLA!

My name is Juan Jaimes Costilla, and I am the Latinx Student Support Coordinator for space for the Latinx students and the broader community. I envision the ECL as a place where students can find resources to foster their growth and success. My work here focuses on creating a long-term, sustainable space for the Latinx community and looking into how we can play a role in creating a strong and diverse Berea College community.

Berea College, and I also manage and coordinate the Espacio Cultural Latinx (ECL). I am committed to developing the ECL as a safe

Sample Events

• De Colores Latinx Leadership Series

• Loteria Night

• Cooking with Katie

• The Latinx Assembly

• Summer Bridge Dinners

• Campus Life Training

• Welcome Back Reception

• Latinx Heritage Month

• Community Talks: Afro Latinidad

• Movie Night

• Myths & Legends of Latin America Exhibit

• Salsa Night

• Dia De Los Muertos

Dia De Los Muertos Event

BLACK CULTURAL CENTER

Kristina Gamble, the director of the Black Cultural Center (BCC) says, “as a Black Berean myself, I understand some of what my students are going through, especially those leaving majority Black communities for a less diverse area.” The mission of the BCC is to provide services that support the needs of African American people at Berea College. We do this through co-curricular programs, leadership development, intercultural and interracial understanding opportunities, academic excellence strategies, and other experiences.

The Black Cultural Center was established in 1983 after former Berea College President Willis Weatherford’s commission on campus racial equity with the understanding that true integration and equality cannot happen without awareness, understanding, and appreciation of black culture. Over three decades later, the philosophical foundation of the BCC has not changed. The Center offers programming and a welcoming space for Black Bereans that also educates the wider non-Black campus community.

The BCC hosts cultural events that welcome the entire Berea community to celebrate Blackness, such as the Black Student Union’s annual pageant.

Sample Events

• BSU Pageant

• Kula Kusoma: To Eat, To Learn!

• Open Mic Night

• Epic Rap Battles of Black History

• Guided Meditation

• Black History Month Trivia

• Hair Care for Dummies

• R&B Karaoke Night

• Melanin Masterclass

• Creatively Telling our Stories

• MLK Convocation

• Truth Talks: Growing Up Black & Appalachian

• Chop it Up: Barber Shop Event

BEREA'S CENTERS OF SUPPORT

CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE IN LEARNING THROUGH SERVICE

CELTS strives to educate students for leadership in service and social justice through promotion and coordination of academic service-learning and student-led community service. CELTS serves as a common meeting place for those involved with Berea’s service-related activities.

CAMPUS CHRISTIAN CENTER

The CCC provides devotional study of Christian scripture, interfaith conversations and events, and intellectual and spiritual engagement with the Christian faith through convocations, lectureships, workshops, and occasional spiritual retreats. Additionally, professional college chaplains offer pastoral counselling.

CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION

The CIE fosters understanding of, and respect for all peoples of the earth. The CIE provides study abroad opportunities and on-campus cross-cultural engagement through special lectures and forums, cultural events (such as dance and music performances), hosting Fulbright scholars, and holding religious ceremonies.

BLACK CULTURAL CENTER

The BCC is designed to provide services that facilitate a campus environment that is supportive of the needs of Black/African American peoples at Berea College. Through programming, the center provides services to support the recruitment, retention, and graduation of Black students.

CENTER FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING

The CTL brings together trained faculty, staff, and student leaders to deepen their confidence, skills, perspectives, and insights as readers, writers, learners, and teachers. Get one-on-one help with everything from essays to resumes and the academic support you need to excel in college.

CARTER G. WOODSON CENTER FOR INTERRACIAL EDUCATION

The CGWC fosters communication around Berea College’s Great Commitment: To assert the kinship of all people and provide interracial education with a particular emphasis on understanding and equality among blacks and whites.

LOYAL JONES APPALACHIAN CENTER

The LJAC exists to support the success of students from Appalachia as well as explore and illuminate, for all people, the richness of the Appalachian region, people, and cultures by celebrating, sustaining, and sharing the historical and cultural diversity in Appalachia...recognizing the importance of place and heritage in a rapidly changing world.

bell hooks center

The bell hooks center is an inclusive space where historically under-represented students can come to be as they are, outside of the social scripts that circumscribe their living. We curate programs, collaborations and events that affirm these students’ sense of self and belonging—on campus and in the world.

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