Some of the dining halls’ themed dinners, like the one held by the Black Student Movement in honor of Black History Month, are designed to fill the mind as well as the stomach.
“One thing that we really want people to understand about these theme meals is that they are more than just a special meal,” said Brandon Thomas, a spokesperson for CDS. “They can be a real opportunity to educate students and, also, create a sense of community.”
Jeremy Mckellar, the president of BSM, said he agrees these dinners are a way to bring the community together.
“For us at BSM, we are trying to promote our culture and expose it to our greater Carolina community, and there is no better way to do that than through food,” he said.
“We always like going through CDS, working with them and putting together a theme dinner that is centered in our culture but relates to everybody. This year we did a soul food theme dinner which is based in Southern culture — not just black culture.”
Mckellar said in working with CDS, BSM was able to bring many of their own ideas to the table and have them implemented.
“They are usually pretty helpful in helping us plan how we want the dinner to be in terms of what we contextualize and what type of education we want to bring to the event in terms of sharing our stories through black history,” Mckellar said.
“They helped us share knowledge about soul food and how it has brought us together on consistent bases through our culture. They really helped us make this a learning experience for the Carolina community while being mindful of disrespecting cultures and really figuring out the best way to deliver food to our campus without it being disrespectful.”
