Berea

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• Introduction
• About the school
• My Time There

For four years I lived in Berea, KY. Berea is a college town located about 39 miles south of Lexington, KY and about 2 hours away from Louisville, KY.

Berea is a small city. The population here as of 2000 was 9,851. This is the type of place where every one knows everybody. The cost of living is very low. It is $85.6 compared to the national average $102.76. This is a good place if you want to raise your kids in a good environment. There is not a lot of crime and the educational system here is superb. If you live within city limits, your children will attend one school while here, Berea Community School. If you live in the county areas you children will attend one of the Madison County schools.

Berea is nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. The scenery here is remarkable. There are a lot of out door options that are available, if that is your style. Berea is the "Arts and Crafts Capital of Kentucky." Many people visit here each year to view and purchase the wonderful crafts. The craft offering are numerous. Here you can probably find it all from furniture, weaving, pottery and even glass blowing! The famous craft makers are Berea College Student Crafts, Churchill Weaving, and the Mitchell Tolle Studio and Gallery.

Berea College was founded in 1855 by abolitionists, John G. Fee and Cassius M. Clay. This school was started to give education to all - blacks, whites, men and women; at an affordable price. From this premise Berea's Motto is "God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth." This motto is still holding true today. When you walk though the campus you see people of many different hues, complexions, and dialects. There are around 71 countries represented on Berea's Campus. Also this liberal arts college has about 261 African-American students. This is pretty good for a school that only has a population of 1559 students.

Berea's ideals is based on the their Great Commitments . These eight commitments define Berea and they are what make Berea different from other schools. Who Berea will serve, its principle of labor and service, and equality are some of the principles mentioned in the document.

One of the ideals that Berea holds firm on to, brought Berea into the national spotlight in the early 1900's. In 1904 the Kentucky Legislature passed the Day Law. This law barred blacks and whites from attending the same school together in that state. Berea affirming its commitment to interracial education challenged this law to the Supreme Court. Unfortunately, The Supreme Court upheld the ruling and Berea helped fund Lincoln Institute, which was located outside of Louisville, KY. This school was for the black students. But in 1950, when the law was amended, Berea was the first college in Kentucky to allow black students to attend Berea.

I enjoyed my time at Berea. There were many highlights of my time there. I love Berea so much, I recommend it to others. At Berea, I have met many people from many places. After leaving Berea, I better understand and appreciate the Appalachian culture and communities more. BC is a great place to learn and to grow

Labor

While at Berea, every student has to work on campus. That is the conditions of our tuition free scholarship. Everyone receives this scholarship while attending, but you do have to pay room and board. This is what costs.

The first year you are at Berea, you are assigned a labor position. Mine was a clerk at the prestigious Berea College Student Crafts. I enjoyed the part where I answered the phones and took orders but I hated the part where we shipped and shrink-wrapped the items. Actually, I hated only the shrink-wrapping. The machine was old and you had to use lots of force to seal the items. I am not a strong person, so by the end of my two hours I was pooped and still had to go to class afterwards.

The next three years I worked as a Resident Assistant (RA) in the residence halls on campus. That was fun but tiring work. This job requires you to maintain the living facilities and plan activities for the residents. Also, you make sure the residents are keeping all campus policies and provide minor counseling if needed. This is a lot for one person to do, but fortunately, the work was spread between 5-7 people. In my first two years as an RA, I worked in a Freshman dorm. That was fun because you got to play an integral part in there lives. My last year, I worked in a Upper class dorm, which was very different because you only helped when needed. I got to bond with the women, but they became more friends than just residents. But fortunately, they knew where my role would begin.

Activites

While at Berea, I participated in many activities. So many I am only going to talk about a few. I was the student director of the Berea Praise Dancers. I was in this group all four years. I choreographed a few of the pieces we preformed. Our signature piece, "Shackles" was choreographed by me. I really miss this group.

Another activity I was in was the Student Government Association (SGA). My freshman year, I was a senator for my dorm and my senior year I was Senior Class President. I enjoyed this also. I got to help revise the Car Policy while serving and vote on the grading scale. Through the SGA I was able to see and understand how the college operates. I have met many great people through this experience.

My last memorable activity was Berea United and Diverse. This was an organization started to recognize and explain different diversity issues that face the campus and the world. Through these issues the group tries to unite the campus by acknowledging those differences an celebrating them as a common ground. Oddly enough, this group was started as a defense against a group that was very anti-Berean beliefs. The event we held was planned in about two months. It was a big event that brought together the whole campus and celebrated the diversity of the whole campus and city. I was on the planning committee and planned most of the event. It was tiring work but it was worth it.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please e-mail me.
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