Berea College

Fall 2025 Main Stage Convocations - held in Phelps Stokes Auditorium

(Campus Convocation Collaborations are listed below mainstage - scroll down!)

Th, Sept. 4, 3pm - Annual Opening Convocation - After a greeting from our own President Nixon, students will explore the ins-and-outs of Berea (this will be a campus-community-only event and will last from 3pm-5pm)

Th, Sept. 11, 8pm - Tashi Kyil Monks – A Stephenson Memorial Concert Event - As part of their USA tour, four monks from the Tashi Kyil Monastery and Tibetan Buddhist Institute in India will give a public cultural presentation (sponsored by the Office of the Provost and Asian Studies)

Th, Sept. 25, 3pm - “For the Inspiration of This and Future Generations: A Park Ranger’s Journey in the National Park Service” – Steve T. Phan shares his unique journey from the South Vietnamese Refugee   Community in Denver, Colorado to serving as a park ranger at 8 National Park sites across theU.S. (co-sponsored by The Office of Career Development and Internships)

Th, Oct. 9, 8pm - The Ebony Hillbillies - A Stephenson Memorial Concert Event - As a kick-off event to our annual Celebration of Traditional Music, the Ebony Hillbillies will present an evening of music.  Celebrated as the “Premier African American String Band in America”, the Ebony Hillbillies are the only String band based in NUC keeping an almost forgotten American musical legacy alive. Consisting of fiddle, banjo, washboard, and bass fiddle, they have successfully created a following that bridges the gap of audiences in pop, country, bluegrass, folk, jazz, blues, and beyond. (co-sponsored by CTM and the Loyal Jones Appalachian Center)

Th, Oct. 16, 3pm - “Can We Make America Less Polarized?” The Annual Begley Van Cleave Political Science Lecture - Americans increasingly dislike the opposite party. Can anything mitigate this growing hostility?In this lecture, Professor John Sides explores the nature of polarization in U.S. politics, which proposed solutions won't work, and which actually might. (sponsored by the Political Science Department of Berea College)

Th, Oct. 23, 3pm - Conversations with the President (Campus-Community-Only event) - After a year of change, transition, and new friends & faces, our very own President, Dr. Cheryl Nixon will spend an afternoon sharing reflections, community updates, and words of inspiration with the campus community.

Th, Oct. 30, 3pm - First-Year Common Reader Event – The Birds of Opulence book talk with author Crystal Wilkinson - Poet Laureate of Kentucky, Novelist, and recent inductee into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Famewill present a talk on this year’s First-year common text, her book The Birds of Opulence.

Th, Nov. 6, 3pm - Annual Sustainability Convocation – Speaker TBA

Convocation Collaboration Events (venues listed next to event)

Tues, Oct. 21, 7:30pm    Wind Band and Jazz Ensemble Fall Concert (Gray Auditorium, Presser Hall)

Wed, Nov. 12, 8pm        Antigone by Sophocles – Berea College Theatre (Jelkyl Drama Ctr.)*^

Thurs, Nov. 13, 8pm      Berea Dances! – Berea College Dance Dept (Hager Gym, Seabury Ctr.)

Fri, Nov. 14, 8pm           Antigone by Sophocles – Berea College Theatre (Jelkyl Drama Ctr.)*^

Sat, Nov. 15, 2pm          Antigone by Sophocles – Berea College Theatre (Jelkyl Drama Ctr.)*^

Sat, Nov. 22, 1:30pm     Black Music Ensemble Homecoming Concert (Union Church)

NOTE:

*events with an asterisk require a ticket           

^students can only receive convo credit for attending the play once