Our Programs and Events
The Helen Rucker Center provides educational, cultural, and professional programs and events. We work with local and non-local authors, artists, business owners, scholars, coaches, performers, etc. more to provide meaningful and engaging events for our campus community. All of our current events can be found on our MyRaft and Instagram pages.
We strive to make all of our programs impactful, meaningful, and memorable. Using programmatic goals to guide the planning process for all of our programs and events helps us do just that! Our 10 programmatic goals support the center’s mission and vision for student success. Below is a description of each of our programmatic goals.
- Psychological Safety -provide an atmosphere of belonging on campus where our scholars feel safe taking risk, expressing themselves without fear of backlash, asking for support, engaging in constructive dialogue, and contributing in meaningful ways to greater campus community
- Health and Holistic Wellness -provide our scholars with the education, resources, and tools needed to make healthy lifestyle choices and build a foundation for their lives that is rooted in holistic wellness
- Unity -we promote unity and understanding amongst our scholars, campus community, and greater community
- Accountability -we empower our scholars to take ownership and accountability for their success in the areas of educational progress and degree completion, financial literacy and economic freedom, career readiness and post-graduate professional employment, and responsible global citizenry
- Personal Development -we encourage the growth and development of our scholars by facilitating critical thought, education, research, dialogue, and transformational experiences
- Black Joy -we foster joy amongst our students, staff and community by fostering a culture of genuine acceptance, appreciation, and authenticity
- Community -we build community amongst our scholars, faculty, staff, and community by cultivating shared experiences and memorable moments
- Support and Outreach -we uplift our scholars and community through strategic outreach and support initiatives
- Visibility -increase visibility and awareness of the many issues that affect our scholars and people across the diaspora while simultaneously increasing visibility of the positive contributions from the diaspora here on campus and around the world
- Celebration of Excellence -we promote excellence and achievement amongst our scholars, faculty, staff, and community by acknowledging their efforts and celebrating their accomplishments
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- Our Signature Programs
- Welcome Back Soul Food BBQ
- Ladies Night, Barbershop Talk, and BlaqOut fall welcome events
- Conversation Circles: Sister Circle, BlaqOut, and March Madness Men’s Workshop
- All Black Gala
- Black History Month
- Black Queens Week
- Black/African Heritage Affinity Ceremony
