Date: June 20, 2025
The Seminarians of Color Union (SOCU), a student formed and led organization at VTS, creates a community of support and learning where the gifts and challenges of being People of Color in the United States are known and understood. Often the term People of Color (POC) or Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) is confusing, especially for people from communities where theirs’ is the dominant culture or for people from other countries with different histories around concepts of race and ethnicity. Unfortunately, prejudice, bigotry, and social hierarchies of different sorts exist everywhere.
The history of the Indigenous Peoples of the lands that became the United States and of the enslaved Africans brought to labor in this country is one of sustained oppression and injustice, which has been shared by people who have migrated to the U.S. from other countries, especially those not considered racially white. Race is a social construct; therefore, the definition of whiteness has varied over time. U.S. laws codified these injustices, particularly against U.S. citizens eventually classified as Black, Indigenous, Latino/Hispanic and Asian. In each case, these communities fought for civil rights and equal access to all the benefits and responsibilities afforded citizens of the U.S. Their histories are an important part of the history of the United States of America.
SOCU is an organization at VTS that is part of this history of struggle and resilience. Built on the justice work of Black, Indigenous, Latine/Hispanic, and Asian people of the United States, the Seminarians of Color Union provides programming for the wider community that shares this history, and events for seminarians, faculty, and staff of color, to build community and create a space of mutual support.
This academic year SOCU is blessed to have Africa Lynn Nesbitt-Gaines (M.A. 2026) leading Virginia Theological Seminary’s Seminarians of Color Union. We are looking forward to welcoming incoming students and hearing from current students about programs and activities they would like support in developing at VTS in 2025-2026.
The Rev. Canon Altagracia Perez-Bullard, Ph.D.
Associate Dean for Multicultural Ministries and
Assistant Professor of Practical Theology