For the Love of Community Dinner with Dr. Jelani Favors

Written by Sofia Belle Schuhbeck ‘26

When I stepped into the Chapel of the Holy Innocents on Thursday evening, the first thing I noticed was the calm energy of the room. Students, faculty, and community members all filed in slowly, with the smell of dinner wafting in the air. The event, For the Love of Community Dinner, was hosted by the Center for Civic Engagement and featured Dr. Jelani Favors, United Negro College Fund Vice President and Senior Director of the Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute.

Dr. Favors’s presence carried a mix of authority and ease; he greeted people before the program began, not just as an invited speaker, but as someone genuinely interested in the students sitting around him. As we all sat down around the table, I couldn't help but notice all of the fascinating, engaging conversations that broke out almost immediately. As Dr. Favors talked with a group of students and professors on one end of the table, I had the pleasure of talking with Lin Khant ‘26, a student majoring in International Studies and Anthropology. Lin had been helping set up the delicious dinner buffet, and we immediately jumped into conversation. We discussed our tentative plans for life after graduation, and later, when I asked him to describe the overall experience of the community dinner, he said, “As soon as we combined two large tables into one, allowing all community members to sit next to each other and engage in conversation, I realized that this experience would become one of my most memorable aspects of the community dinners I’ve attended on campus.”

The atmosphere felt both communal and serious. People were listening intently to one another, jumping into new discussions, and it was clear that people were all connecting. It felt like a conversation across generations.

After we all finished our dinners and conversations naturally came to a close, I had the chance to introduce myself properly to Dr. Favors. I thanked him for being a part of this event and asked him how he felt afterwards, to which he replied, “This is the best way to connect with one another. Through conversation, through discourse.” I could feel Dr. Favors complete presence in this moment, which is certainly a quality that fostered the lively discourse of the evening. He explained to me that he had just spoken in a class taught by Jonathan Becker about Voting Rights, a subject Dr. Favors feels very passionate about. He reminded me that the struggle for democracy is ongoing, and that students are often at the center of it. He also told me that he will be having another talk in October at Yale University, and invited interested students to come along.
As the Chapel began to empty, I asked Lin if he would come to the Community Dinner event again, which will be hosted monthly. He replied, “I would like to come again. At first, I thought, "Oh, there are not many people here," but I felt comfortable in this little community. The atmosphere was tranquil, the food was warm, and everyone was seated in circles; it even made me think of the comfy Japanese series "Midnight Diner."

I asked a few other students as I left, and the answers were quick: “Definitely”. It seemed as if everyone felt a little bit more energized after our conversations. I also heard quite a few remarks about how delicious the meal was, which I wholeheartedly agree with. Walking out of the Chapel, I felt that energy too…an awareness that trying to better understand each other across tables of food with good conversation can be just as impactful as any classroom conversation. And sometimes more.
 

Post Date: 09-19-2025