Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

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Y : 7v1a5 1f:L' Joe White, the keynote speaker, talks about how Jesus is relevent today and acted out some of his speech during AFl'ERdark the night of Oct. 4. The speakers, Vic and Joe, were on point and really felt as though they vacated themselves and God spoke through them on that night, Kyle Winkley, junior in secondary education, said. Evert Nelson Sunni Having a well-known figure on campus such as Victor Ojeleye helped bring students to the event. l think the event was extremely successful, Neely Michaelis, junior in early childhood education, said. l'We did not even know if we would have enough people to open the balcony and we did so I was very pleased and I think everyone else was too. Evert Nelson AFiERdark

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music . passion by Kelsey White A traveling campus event visits the university to empower students The chalk advertisements, bright orange shirts and handouts in the K-State Student Union hinted that a big event was approaching, but the vague AFTERdark title left many students interested on what was to come. Being marketed as the campus event of the yearf' the colorful hand outs implied that people who attended the event would hear encouraging words from speakers such as Victor Ojeleye of the men's basketball team, as well as a free concert featuring hip-hop artist Thi'sl and well known recording artist Matt Wertz. The upbeat music from these featured artists may have been one of the main reasons the students flooded into McCain Auditorium the night of Oct. 4 but they left with more than a catchy tune in their ear. In addition to Ojeleye, the main speaker of the evening was Ioe White, president of Kanakuk Kamps and founder of Kids Across America Kamps. According to the event's website, APTERdark was a dynamic and highly energetic one night event specifically designed to relate to college students from all walks of life on campuses from coast to coastf' This was the event's first time appearing on the K-State campus in a few years, but they had visited the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence earlier in the year. I had the wonderful opportunity to work at Kanakuk Kamps K2 this summer and worked directly with Ioe White and Don Ford, director of AFTERdark, everydayf' Kyle Winkley, junior in secondary education and co-organizer of the event, said. These two organizations work hand in hand. But this was my first chance of working at Kanakuk, so my first experience AFTERdark would have been when I attended it when it was at KU this last springf' The event opened with Thi'sl taking the stage with a few of his original rap songs that featured an encouraging and hopeful twist about how he was able to turn his life from one filled with gangs and violence to one that was filled with love and the influence of Iesus Christ. The energy in McCain rose to match the level of his enthusiasm, and the crowd close to 1,600 students were up on their feet in excitement. Up next, Ioe White, the keynote speaker, spoke and almost performed his encouraging message. He spoke about whether the topic of Iesus was still relevant todayl' Neely Michaelis, junior in early childhood education, said. I loved the whole night so it is difficult to pick a favorite part, but I was really impacted by the videos they played during Ioe White's portion of the evening so ifl was forced to pick, that would be itf' After countless anecdotes about how Christianity affected people in today's world paired with emotional videos of hope and inspiration, the audience was captivated and readily welcomed Wertz onto the stage. We thought it was a great message to bring to our campus. And who doesn't love a free concert? Michaelis said. The event came to a close after Wertz played a full set of his acoustic songs. The students left the auditorium and entered campus, inspired to live their daily lives with more of a purpose.

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