Black Student Union members hosted their first variety show Oct. 30, featuring rappers, an a capella group and dancers.

The goal of the event was to highlight talent and have organizations come together in a collaborative effort, said Eugene Marshall, BSU director of programming and sophomore business management major.

“It’s bigger than just a showcase of talent,” Marshall said. “It’s really designed to help people network with other people.”

The variety show featured seven acts, including a dance performance by Sherrie Hamilton, freshman early childhood education major, to “Chandelier” by Sia. The dance featured modeling team Empire Models, which also performed Beyoncé’s “Drunk In Love” and Lil Wayne’s “Drop The World.”

“I wasn’t nervous. I actually did a lot of dancing in high school and over the summer, so I was really prepared for it when Christine, the CEO of Empire, asked me to do it,” Hamilton said.

Marshall said he invited students from Chicago’s Excel Academy to the show for free as an effort to make college life appealing to the students. He said he thinks his job was fulfilled if he inspired at least one out of the 30 attendees to apply for college or attend NIU.

“We are afraid to reach out of our comfort zone,” Marshall said. “Once we stop being afraid of reaching out of our comfort zone, that’s how we will grow. And once we grow and once people start seeing what a difference its going to make, it’s like a cycle. Somebody has to start the cycle first … and once we start working cohesively we’ll start making a change on this campus.”

Ericka Wilson, National Association of Black Journalists president, said she enjoyed co-hosting the event.

“My experience was great,” Wilson said. “This was my first time hosting an event out of my four years here at NIU and I was nervous, must I say… . Also, the small crowd tonight kind of discouraged me, but I believed in them and they kept the energy going.”

A capella group Huskie Hunks closed the show with a Phil Collins medley, which included the song “You’ll Be In My Heart.”