UCA set the student center amphitheater ablaze during The Block is Hot, the Oct. 23 homecoming celebration filled with dancing, food and laughter.
“It helps bring the community out and really prepare for the weekend,” said senior Jakira Davis, president of Students for the Propagation of Black Culture.
Aside from dancing alongside the DJ’s playlist, The Block is Hot also offered students free Homecoming t-shirts, tickets to the football homecoming game as well as the Greek Step Show, Wade’s BBQ and a performance by Dancer’s United.
Junior Sydney Harris, SPBC secretary and treasurer, said, “The event is going pretty good. We want to get everybody active, you know, SPBC means family. This year that’s our motto. It’s always been, but we’re trying to get people out here and let them know we’re here for them, no matter what, to be mentors and to just help them get familiar with the campus.”
Davis described the SPBC as “the behind-the-scenes group that supported all the other Black organizations here at UCA.”
“We were the first non-Greek RSO here in 1971 and as UCA went on, we support other groups like MMP, which is the Minority Mentorship Program, the UCA Gospel Choir, Ebony models, basically all the other Black organizations bring us together and spread awareness about who we are, and that there is a community here for students that don’t really feel welcome,” she said.
While SPBC has continued the annual event, the executive board behind its return is one of the organization’s most unique.
“It’s only five of us this year on exec, and we happen to all be women, so we’re building on that,” Davis said.
Even with a smaller executive board, the organization has not allowed itself to slow down.
“We have a lot of general body students that are really willing to come help,” Davis said. “Our event started at six, and we got here at five o’clock with a special task committee that helps with setting up events. We always have people that are willing to work.”
A segment of the event that received an eruptive amount of applause was a performance from Dancer’s United, a group that SPBC often partners with.
Sophomore Ionia Thomas, a member of Dancer’s United, said, “Dancer’s United is an all-genre organization. We do hip-hop, jazz, afro, lyrical — all of the above. We are a diverse organization where we bring everybody in, making sure they get to show their talent.”
Thomas joined Dancer’s United in her freshman year, hoping to find an outlet to continue her long-running dance career.
“It’s important to bring everybody together and just make sure everybody has a good time and is relieved and relaxed, especially after midterms,” Thomas said.
