The Office of Minority Student Life (OMSL) is hosting its 7th Annual Black Issues Conference Friday at the UC, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
    
The theme for this year’s event will be “Black in America: One Campus … One Community … Unified for One Cause.”
    
“Every year I have been a UT student I’ve looked forward to this event,” Jeremy Donald, junior in journalism and electronic media, said.
   
 Since its start in 2005, the Black Issues Conference (BIC) has aimed to unite the campus and community by reflecting on the concerns of African-Americans. The conference’s main purpose is to present a forum of discussions on issues that affect the African-American culture.
    
Although the conference will focus on overcoming African-American conflicts, the forum is open to everyone. The conference and lunch are free to all UT students, faculty, staff and registered participants.
   
 “All races are welcomed,” said Christian Donaldson, senior in political science and member of the BIC planning committee. “Although the forum focuses on the issues of African-Americans, the committee feels it’s important for other cultures to come so that others can see just how important it is for us to find solutions, and just how relative these issues can be to them as well.”
    
The itinerary for the students includes attending three sessions followed by lunch and a keynote speaker. Although the students will only attend three, there will be several sessions to choose from.
    
The speaker will be political activist and writer Kevin Powell. The topic of his speech will be “The Leadership We Are Waiting for Is Us: How to Become an Effective Leader.”
   
 Powell is the author or editor of 11 books and is widely considered one of America’s leading political and cultural voices of the 21st century. Powell’s writings have appeared in numerous publications including The Washington Post, Newsweek, Essence, Ebony, Esquire, Rolling Stone and Vibe.
    
“The Black Issues Conference is by far one of the greatest events I have ever attended,” X-Zaviana Boddie, recent graduate of UT, said. “I am amazed at how far this tradition has come and hope that it continues to grow as it helped me to do.”
    
Several organizations have come together to ensure that this year’s conference is a success. The planning committee consists of members from organizations such as the National Advancement of Colored People (NACP), National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), Black Cultural Programming Committee (BCPC), Student Government Association (SGA), Student Services Center (SSC), Central Program Council (CPC) and Diva Opals.
   
 Anderson Olds is president of UT’s branch of NAACP and co-chair of the event, along with Tanisha Jenkins, senior associate director of OMSL. Both Olds and Jenkins have been co-chairs of the event for two years.
    
“I am very pleased with the amount of time and hard work this year’s planning committee has put into the program,” Olds said. “Our main goal was to make sure this year’s issues were more local so that the students and community could better relate, and I commend everyone involved in the planning committee for making sure that will happen.”
    
Sponsors of the BIC include the Office of Minority Student Life, NAACP, Charlie Lemmons Foundation, Black Cultural Programming Committee, Commission for Blacks, Black Alumni Council, Office of Equity and Diversity, Office of Disability Services, College of Business and Administration, UT Book Supply stores and the Division of Student Life.
   
 To register for the conference go to http://omsa.utk.edu/bic/index.php. For more information, contact Multicultural Student Life at (865) 974-6861, or e-mail BIC@utk.edu.