LA MIRADA, CALIF. — The 18th annual Student Congress on Racial Reconciliation (SCORR), a conference targeting colleges and universities across the nation, will take place on Biola University’s campus for two days — Feb. 21-22, 2014.

Glen Kinoshita, director of multi-ethnic programs at Biola University, emphasized how Christian universities need to lead the conversation in addressing racial recognition in higher education.

“Universities tend to lack diversity on all levels: students, faculty, curriculum, etc,” said Kinoshita. “SCORR speaks to that and begins to address some of these issues.”

The conference theme “Shalom” — a concept encompassing human thriving, covenant community and holistic peace — directs attendees’ attention to how holistic peace illustrates growth and learning in understanding the diversity of God’s Kingdom. Fourteen schools, including Wheaton College (Illinois), Moody Bible Institute (Washington), and Bethel University (Minnesota), are attending this year’s conference.

Twenty-six presenters from Biola and the outside community will address issues of diversity during four workshop times. Pastor Judy Peterson will host two separate sessions that unpack the basic concepts of “Shalom” and their application to university campuses. Terry McGonigal, dean of spiritual life at Whitworth University, delves into a series of sessions titled “Walking In Shalom” in which the theological and biblical aspects of Shalom are explored.

In past years, performances from Koshin Taiko drums and Will & Company were two highlights from SCORR. This year includes a special screening of the documentary “Dark Girls” during a workshop session on Feb. 21 and the world premiere screening of the documentary "Mass Confucian: Chinese Language or Communist Propaganda" on Feb. 22. The two-day event will conclude with a poetry reading the evening of Feb. 22.

“SCORR has had a very strong emphasis of integrating the arts in the conference,” said Kinoshita. “It’s how we engage, celebrate and learn from each other.”

Registration for SCORR 2014 is open for universities and the Biola community to attend. For more information about the conference and schedule, visit https://www.biola.edu/scorr2017.