The Black Excellence and Enrichment Academy (BEE) hosted a free book giveaway on Feb. 16 in the quad with the goal to help promote student literacy both on and off campus.
Genres for books distributed included fiction and non-fiction, self-improvement, history, children’s books and a special section dedicated to Black literature and authors in honor of Black History Month.
“The purpose is to promote literacy,” said Raichelle Grays, Professor and BEE Counseling Coordinator, in an email interview.
Several students gathered around the tables of books and looked through them while the BEE Academy students and staff gave them bags to take their books home in.
“You can never go wrong with anything that’s free, so it was cool to see other people there that were either looking through the books or conversing about literature,” said Aaron Ortiz-Moreno, a Delta College student who attended the book fair.
Referred to as the “Valley’s Own HBCU Experience” according to the academy’s presence on the Delta College website, the BEE Academy is a learning community at Delta College that is designed to increase the matriculation, retention, graduation and transfer rates of Black students.
“The goal is to get students here, keep them here and stay with them through graduation and transfer”, said Grays.
The BEE Academy serves approximately 150 students with program benefits that include priority registration, free textbooks, Black/Afrocentric themed curriculum, cultural enrichment activities and a Honors Program option.
“Teachers are great, give valuable information to help during your time at Delta, they have counselors who are ready to help at any time and they provide tutoring,” said David Nwosisi, a Delta College student and BEE Academy program participant.
Program requirements include making a one year commitment to the BEE Learning Community, pursuing an associate degree or interested in transferring and haven’t completed their general education.
For more information about the program, visit deltacollege.edu, click on Services, then All Support Services, then BEE Academy Learning Community. Students can apply to the program at bit.ly/JOINBEE.