The Panther

Issue date: 11/9/05 Section: Campus

Media Credit: Gabrielle Howard

Hundreds of students gathered in front of the Memorial Student Center Thursday, Nov. 3, as Black Entertainment Television came to campus as part of its annual Black College Tour, an event that supports entertainment and informative outreach to minority students.

Four years ago, BET created the Black College Tour, which travels across the country to 14 different schools, within a 10-week period. BET interacts with the students as they engage in games, music, performances, contests, product sampling.

Marchelle Cain participated in the McDonald's poetry contest and was one of the three finalists. "I wasn't nervous at all (while reading her poem). The crew members backstage really made me feel comfortable," Cain said.

According to Cain, the tour has made major improvements. "I thought that the tour was really good. It was much better than last year. Everything was on time and according to schedule," she said.

Cain also thought that the tour brought a sense of unity to the campus. "There were more people out than last year and we had more school spirit than what we usually do."

Companies such as the U.S. Air Force, Olay, Pantene, Pepsi, Verizon Wireless, McDonalds, Rap-It Up and several others collaborate with BET to help promote their products.

Aurnell Dright Jr., a sophomore who worked with PALS to help the tour by arranging and passing out giveaway bags said, "I enjoyed helping out with the tour, it was a lot of fun."

Although Dright thought the tour was fun, he said that improvements could be made. "The only downfall of the tour was that the products that were given away were more for women. The only thing men could have used was the body lotion."

The promotional bags had an Essence Pantene Pro-V pamphlet in it, which promoted the tour and its new products for "Women of Color." The bags also were filled with feminine hygiene products, shower essentials, body wash and lotion, toothpaste, and a sample of Downy's laundry detergent.

Courtney Warren, an engineering major, attended the tour both last year and this year and had a positive impression of the event. "The entire event was exciting and I like the giveaways. Overall, I think the tour is effective because it unites the black community," Warren said.

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