Written by: Marian Polanco
Southern Adventist University and Oakwood University student and employee leaders recently spent a weekend together in Montgomery, Alabama, during a joint Diversity Educational Exchange Program (DEEP) Retreat.
The event, which took place Oct. 19-22, marked the first DEEP Retreat since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kathy Purnell, senior advisor to the president on diversity and strategic planning at Southern, described the retreat in an email to the Accent as a transformative experience designed for Southern and Oakwood University students, faculty, staff and administrators. She said she has been immersing herself in meticulous preparation for the retreat since last October alongside other members of the event’s planning team. Purnell came into her advisory position last August.
In its 25th year, DEEP Retreat is a beacon of cross-cultural understanding, communication and active engagement among students, faculty, staff and administration from sister institutions, according to Purnell. The retreat is part of a more extensive program to foster diversity, unity and cultural understanding within the Adventist higher education community, she added.
“The overarching goal is inspiring and galvanizing participants into forging faith-based, genuine intercultural bonds and devising strategies that nurture cultural humility and a pervasive sense of belonging.”
When asked about the purpose of the retreat, Purnell wrote, “The overarching goal is inspiring and galvanizing participants into forging faith-based, genuine intercultural bonds and devising strategies that nurture cultural humility and a pervasive sense of belonging.”
Jeni Bautista, junior accounting major and Student Association (SA) assistant finance vice president, was one of the student leaders who attended DEEP Retreat. She told the Accent that the retreat was designed to create a sense of community between Oakwood and Southern students. She added that it served as an opportunity for Southern and Oakwood to incorporate the fundamental principles of DEEP by further promoting unity and cultural understanding among participants.
Bautista said DEEP Retreat united leaders from Southern and Oakwood, fostering a deeper understanding of the universities’ progress in equality and diversity. She said the event served as a reminder that every race has its unique story, and diversity continues to evolve.
One of the retreat’s standout activities for Bautista was a visit to the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, which focuses on the history of African Americans in the United States and their struggles for equality and civil rights.
Alfredo Trevedan, junior accounting major and SA parliamentarian, also attended DEEP Retreat. When asked about its impact, Trevedan spoke about his experience at the museum.
“I learned about the ways in which America was built on the backs of slaves and how they were forced out of their homes, forced to work almost to the point of death for decades and then still treated as less than humans even after slavery was abolished,” Trevedan said.
Trevedan added that participants engaged in community service during the retreat, and he was able to interact “substantially” with Oakwood students.
Regarding the historic impact of DEEP, Purnell wrote, “With a legacy spanning over two and a half decades, the DEEP Retreat and DEEP Sabbath have carved a niche, symbolizing sanctuaries where faith merges with inclusivity and belonging.”
DEEP Sabbath is a spiritual event Southern was planning to conduct once again with Oakwood this school year, according to Jared Chandler, senior finance major and SA president. He explained that, historically, DEEP Sabbath happened once each semester, with each university taking turns traveling to the other’s campus.
Although the universities had agreed on dates in November for Oakwood students to travel to Southern for DEEP Sabbath, which Southern’s SA had planned to transform into DEEP Revival Weekend, scheduling conflicts regarding the winter semester led Oakwood to pull out of the event, Chandler said.
However, SA is planning to conduct a similar event called SA Revival Weekend for Southern students on the Friday and Saturday reserved for DEEP Revival Weekend, Nov. 10 and 11. That Friday, SA will organize a vespers focused on the topic of conversion and reconversion. On Saturday, SA will host Sabbath Chats and partner with Merge Worship to organize a church service.
“Worship service at Merge is going to be talking about [how] we need to be unified as a body to preach the gospel, so [we must] remove anything that separates us,” Chandler said.
Merge will host a lunch after the service, and the weekend will conclude with an outreach event in downtown Chattanooga.
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