Bridging the Gap
By Neela Pal | February 12, 2003When third-year Engineering students Justin Steele and Ermias Abebe do venture out of the E-school and into Gilmer 130, they are used to sitting in the audience seats.The evening of Feb 4, however, found them standing at the front of the auditorium, facing a few hundred of their peers. That Tuesday night the two stood prepared to teach others about their own history through a presentation entitled "Connecting Communities: A Look at Current Race Relations through the Lens of Black History at U.Va." "Preaching to the choir" The presentation was first introduced to the public a semester ago, but at that time the audience make-up was almost entirely African-American.Steele noted that originally the presentation had been geared toward African-American students and was publicized with that in mind. "The initial statement of purpose was to increase ownership of African-American students -- so that they could say U.Va.
