Experience the transformation of learning and embody what it means to build a beloved community, while connecting with our renowned faculty and student leaders. The program will offer riveting mini master classes that span the academic disciplines taught by faculty, administrators and student leaders. In addition, attendees will be invited to connect directly with our current students, alumni and more.
Those who register for and attend OBC will receive an application fee waiver. Those who attend OBC, apply to Lafayette via the Common App and are accepted for the class of 2026 will be automatically considered for TAG (Together from Application to Graduation), which is a cohort-based, social impact scholars program.
View our video from 2020, which captures the tone and scope of Our Beloved Community last year.
Fondly referred to as OBC on the Lafayette campus, Our Beloved Community is named for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s global vision in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth. For Dr. King, The Beloved Community was not a lofty utopian goal, instead it was, and is, a realistic, achievable goal that can be attained by a critical mass of people committed to and trained in the philosophy and methods of nonviolence. Lafayette College’s Our Beloved Community symposium is an annual opportunity and call to action for high school students across the nation and around the globe to unite and become that critical mass. OBC is an offering from our renowned faculty, staff and student leaders to take critical steps to enact global social change. Join our movement.
Every year, the Office of Admissions invites high school seniors to apply to an all-expense-paid overnight, fly-in program that provides a preview of a life at Lafayette and culminates in the symposium where the medicine of imagination to create and sustain a beloved community is born. In the past, a select group from all applicants had been invited to join us on campus.
Due to COVID-19, the 10th Annual Our Beloved Community program on November 4, 2021, will be held virtually to maintain the safety of all community members. This virtual platform provides a benefit: We can welcome any and all prospective high school seniors in the virtual space to attend this unparalleled program.
Last year’s OBC, our first ever virtual program, was a resounding success! We connected with students from Pennsylvania to California, from Ukraine to Beijing, from Texas to Massachusetts through 15 in-depth and discussion-based sessions, including:
View the schedule for the November 7,2020 Our Beloved Community Program
If you have questions about diversity recruitment or social justice issues at Lafayette College, contact Cristina Usino at usinoc@lafayette.edu.
OBC is just one way in which we look to cultivate a vibrant community of students who hail from varied backgrounds, experiences and interests. Our TAG program, Together from Application to Graduation, provides support to students from the moment they consider applying to Lafayette, to graduation and beyond. We want all students to be successful scholars, contributors, friends and members of the Lafayette community. Read more about some of those initiatives.