1973: BSU President Evon Golphin Established First Annual BSU Arts Festival

In April 1973, the Black Student Union (BSU) – under the tutelage of president Evon Golphin – hosted its 1st Annual BSU Arts Festival week that included the following events and activities:

• A concert at the Main Street Gym in Middletown that featured jazz bagpipers, Afro-American drummers and dance ensemble, and a modern jazz unit
• Fried chicken dinner
• Basketball games
• 3rd Annual Talent Show, for which Golphin was master of ceremonies
• Art exhibits of African textiles
• Other speakers and events

Each event was well-attended and the entire week was well-received and respected by Capitol Campus students.

Prior to the BSU presidential election, Golphin ran for a seat in the student senate, but she and another woman tied for runner-up. Soon after the original senate election, one of the elected senators left the school, opening up a senator-at-large position, which prompted a run-off election to determine if Golphin or the other woman would earn the senate seat. Golphin lost by only one vote; however, in the time between the original election and the run-off election, she had already been voted the president of the BSU.

Some of Golphin’s other contributions as a Capitol Campus student include:

• Participation in MLK Jr. celebrations
• Member of the BSU choir
• Named the new coffee house “New Birth”
• Volunteered for the ceremony that installed Dr. Robert E. McDermott as the first Provost of the Capitol Campus
• Member of Delta Tau Kappa (DTK) International Social Science Honor Society
• Participated with other faculty and students and visited the University of Western Ontario’s Cross Cultural Center to determine if it provided a good model for the Capitol Campus

Golphin graduated from the Capitol Campus in 1973 with a degree in social science.  In 2000, Golphin (now Williams) earned the People to Watch Penn State Harrisburg Alumni Award.