The NIU Black Expo 1993 will be Oct. 3 and 4. Activities will include a job fair, cultural displays and a choir competition.

Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Duke Ellington Ballroom at the Holmes Student Center, NIU’s campus will ring with the sounds of gospel music. This will mark the first choir competition of this sort at NIU.

“Hooked on Gospel” will feature choirs from various cities surrounding DeKalb. Paula L. Thomas, president of the Black Student Choir, said invitations and applications have been sent out to church and college choirs in Rockford, Chicago and DeKalb.

Application deadline was Sept. 15, but Thomas said they still are accepting applications and may accept choirs who show up at the door if time allows. She said there are two definite entries and six others who have expressed a major interest.

The entry fee is $25 and students who wish to see the competition will be asked to pay $1 and non-students will pay $2. Thomas said the money raised will go toward the prize money.

The first place choir will be awarded $500 and second will receive $350. The winning choirs can use the money however they see fit. Choirs will be judged on creativity, not exceeding the time limit, attentiveness and originality.

“This is a good way for choirs see others perform and look at different methods to help them in the future,” Thomas said. “This is good experience and it’s a nice break from studying for NIU students.”

Oct. 4 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Duke Ellington Ballroom at the student center there will be a job fair and cultural display.

The ballroom will be filled with 21 booths displaying clothes, cosmetics, jewelry, books and representatives of various campus groups and area businesses. The Cooperative Education Office, the College of Law, Career Planning and Placement are some organizations represented.

Van Amos, programming coordinator of the Center for Black Studies, said the cultural displays will “provide the NIU community with cultural items that add to the diversity of the area.”

Walgreens and American Health and Beauty Aids Institute are two of the businesses that will be on campus as part of the job fair. Amos said the purpose of the job fair is to highlight the success of black entrepreneurs.

The businesses will be offering advice about how to find a job, market trends and possibly interviewing for employment.

Amos said the job and cultural fair is important to students because there is a wide variety of cultural products provided and a great amount of expertise represented on how to own a business and information about careers and job opportunities.

“This is a good way for choirs see others perform and look at different methods to help them in the future.”