Knowledge is power, and history can bring some of that knowledge to light, said Kamie Rash, the activities coordinator in OSU Institute of Technology’s Office of Student Life.

Student Life is offering students the opportunity to witness a significant part of Oklahoma history with a trip to the Greenwood Cultural Center in Tulsa.

The trip is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 27, with transportation from campus leaving at 2p.m. and returning by approximately 5 p.m. Students must register at the Covelle Hall front desk, and there is no cost to attend.

The Greenwood Cultural Center serves as a museum for Tulsa’s Black Wall Street, a 35-block hub of prosperous black commerce and culture in the early 1900s known as the Greenwood District. The center also houses the history of the Tulsa Race Riot that occurred over two days in June 1921 that resulted in the destruction of thousands African-American homes and businesses in Greenwood and the death of hundreds of black residents.

“Taking a trip to the Greenwood Cultural Center will shed some light on the fact that there’s a major piece of local black history just up the road from us,” Rash said. “History is always important to know. It’s important to reflect upon our history as well. We need to know and understand what has happened in the past in order to learn and grow from it as a community and as a society.”

Rash said this trip is a part of Student Life’s commemoration of Black History Month.

“It’s important for me to organize such an opportunity for our students as we want all of our graduates to be well-rounded individuals when they leave OSUIT. And knowing pieces of our nation’s history will aid in creating that in them,” she said.

Above all, it’s a chance for students to learn about a place and time that may not know anything about.

“I am hoping that students can learn something new, that they can be enlightened a little more about how the local area has been impacted by black history events, and take some of that knowledge and use it in their lives as they continue to grow here at OSUIT,” Rash said.

And she hopes she learns something as well.

“I’m hoping to learn a piece of history I was not aware of until moving to this area of the country and sharing that with the people I’m around most often­— students,” she said. “I challenge anyone to learn a little more every day, it might just open your eyes to a whole new world.”