Samantha Buery-Joyner, C'90

"It was like falling in love with Penn all over again," says Samantha Buery-Joyner, C'90, of her work on BLAAC to School 2007, the first ever (and wildly successful) Alumni Weekend event to spotlight Black performing arts at Penn.

But like many love stories, this one has an inauspicious beginning. Returning to campus for Alumni Weekend 2005, Samantha fully expected to experience the "vibrant Black community" that marked her undergraduate years. What she discovered, however, was very different. "The energy was not what I remembered," recalls Samantha, "and one annual event that I really wanted to attend hadn't even been organized that year."

The experience inspired reflection—and, ultimately, action. An alumna of the Penn Gospel Choir and the African American Arts Alliance, Samantha knew that alumni still felt deeply connected to the African-American performing arts groups they participated in and watched while students. "I thought, 'Let's tap into that.'"

The idea took the form of an Alumni Weekend concert like no other. "Our plan was to bring together Penn's Black performing arts groups with alumni of the groups and have them perform together onstage," says Samantha, now a D.C.-area physician. "We thought, too, we would use the event to raise money for today's African-American community at Penn. It was amazing how the idea resonated with alumni and how involved they became."

BLAAC to School 2010 and You! If, as a student, you were a member of the Penn Gospel Choir/New Spirit of Penn, Black Arts League/African American Arts Alliance, The Inspiration, African Rhythms, or Destination Hip Hop, but did not participate in BLAAC to School 2007, we want to hear from you. Contact Nicole Maloy in Alumni Relations at nmaloy@upenn.edu (Subject: "Re: BLAAC to School 2010") with the following information: full name, name when a student (if different), school(s) and graduation year(s), preferred phone number, e-mail, mailing address, and the group(s) in which you were involved.

The spirit and energy of Penn's African-American community was evident to all at Alumni Weekend 2007 when Penn's five Black culturally-focused performing arts groups—ranging from a cappella to drama to dance—performed for alumni, their friends, and families at Annenberg Center. With 223 tickets sold, the event raised $2,256 to support the Black Alumni Society's 125th Anniversary Honoring Legends Fund and the Annenberg Center's Ben's Tix program.

Planning is already underway for BLAAC to School 2010, and Samantha's love affair with Penn continues to grow. "Working with people I went to school with and performed with to bring this event into being was incredible in itself. But there was also the experience of watching alumni and current students perform so passionately onstage together. It all reminded me what a wonderfully diverse, incredibly alive African-American community existed at Penn for me as a student and is still there for me as an alumna today."

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