Black History Month celebrations at Colorado State University will continue with a Black History Month-themed dinner 5-8 p.m. Feb. 23 at Braiden Dining Center.

The event, coordinated by CSU Housing and Dining Services, the Office for Inclusive Excellence and the Black/African American Cultural Center, will feature historical Black and African American cultural dishes.

This is intended to emphasize and celebrate traditional Black culture, educate CSU students on Black and African American traditions and strengthen the Black and African American community on campus.

The dinner maintains the chosen theme for this year’s Black History Month celebrations, “Blackprint: The Original Blueprint,” which emphasizes the impact the Black and African American community has on American culture.

Director of B/AACC Duan Ruff said he believes the dinner will help emphasize the rich cultural background of traditional Black and African American cuisine and instill a sense of pride among Black and African American students at CSU.

“(The dinner) allows for Black students to see their culture in the dining hall,” Ruff said. “When you eat somewhere every day for half the year and you come to this school and you’re not used to not having access to the traditional foods that you eat, then when it shows up, it can give you a sense of pride in your institution.”

Ruff also emphasized that the dinner is open to all CSU students, believing the engagement of other student demographics will work to strengthen the CSU community as a whole.

“I’m just excited to see all my people together in a space where we don’t have to do any activist or social justice work but can just be in a space where we can eat, kick it and be ourselves,” – Joshua Duran, CSU student

“Whenever you do things around food, I think it makes relationships better; it makes conversations better; it just makes everything better,” Ruff said. “Hopefully it provides some additional conversation points between students from different backgrounds.”

The dinner also intends to educate students on the nutritional value and historical context of traditional Black and African American cuisine in an effort to further explore the influence of Black and African American culture and expand appreciation of such culture across ethnic and racial boundaries.

“Soul food is healthy food,” Ruff said. “Exploring ways to make sure that the foods that you eat are healthy extends beyond one different group, culture or community. It extends to all of them.”

Students like juniors Breonna Abuya and Joshua Duran said they believe the dinner will fit in perfectly with the rest of the Black History Month celebrations and hope the event will work to build community and emphasize the importance of personal connections on campus.

“I find it to be very imperative that we can get together outside of Student Diversity Programs and Services offices,” Abuya said. “There’s a lot of Black and brown students on campus that don’t come into the B/AACC office, and I feel like this is a perfect opportunity to share a meal and share some community.”

Duran, an executive member of the United Men of Color student organization, which works to promote campus outreach events for Black and African American students on campus, hopes the Black History Month-themed dinner will provide members of the community with much-needed rest and celebration amid ongoing planning efforts for Black History Month events.

“I’m just excited to see all my people together in a space where we don’t have to do any activist or social justice work but can just be in a space where we can eat, kick it and be ourselves,” Duran said.

“A lot of these students have put in a lot of money and work to get this stuff done, so I feel like this is a last hurrah to celebrate Black History Month and the work we’ve put in,” Abuya said.

All members of the CSU community are encouraged to attend the Black History Month-themed dinner.

Reach Sam Hutton at life@collegian.com or on Twitter @Sam_Hut14.=.