By Khalia Lewter
With fall semester in full swing, campus’s extracurricular activities and clubs are also gearing up. One club in particular, however, had some unprecedented changes just before the first week of classes. The William Peace University Black Student Union, or BSU, started the semester without Leah Young, who as director of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion played an important role in the club.
According to BSU President TJ Hill-Johnson, Young was a mentor to him while he worked under her, and for the BSU club she took on the role as program lead.
“It has impacted us greatly because she was extremely supportive of our purpose and initiatives,” said Hill-Johnson, a junior who worked as a student assistant in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. “A loss of any kind is felt throughout the campus, especially one as small and tight-knit as ours….The way she carried herself professionally and her productivity will be greatly missed. She always looked for an opportunity to collab with us and give us opportunities to be seen.”
Hill-Johnson said his goal is to further the reach of BSU to activities outside of campus, and to become more involved with the neighboring communities in Raleigh.
“This year BSU has taken up the initiative of growth through action,” Hill-Johnson said. “BSU has had great success with growth through conversation. Now we’re in a stage where this is a prime opportunity to keep that progress going and now add that aspect of action evolving from conversation.”
On Aug. 29, BSU hosted a mixer welcoming the incoming freshman and transfer students. Events included a welcome presentation that included fun icebreakers and ‘get to know me’ games for the new incomers. While BSU will continue their growth and strength for the black community, the absence of Young and her work will be felt amongst the members. Currently it’s not certain who her replacement will be, when or if there will be one. With these new changes to BSU, Hill-Johnson still wants to assure students that he and the E board will still uphold the priority of the club, and that their motives and goals will remain the same.
“BSU just wants to make sure that students, especially Black students and students of color know that there is still somewhere to go, even if that’s just offering an open ear or steering them in the direction of resources,” said Hill-Johnson.
He urges students of color to come out and see what BSU is about. Meeting people with different experiences and backgrounds is how you build a positive and warm-welcoming community, he said.
“I would say ‘Just come,’” he said. “Our main objective is to be a positive and productive representation of our community through leadership, scholarship, empowering each other, being involved with the community, and appreciating the differences and diversity that come with being Black…we want to provide a place where we can all appreciate that,” Hill-Johnson said.
In the coming weeks, there will be announcements to more events; also to check out BSU’s Pacer Engage page for future updates . In the meantime, BSU will have their first official interest meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 10, in Flowe 110 from 4:30 p.m. until 5:30 p.m.
Photos courtesy of Elisha Thomas