Black Student Union revival

The Black Student Union (BSU) is back after over a decade of inactivity. After several attempts over the years to revive the club, Judith Heilman from the Montana Racial Equity Project, MSU Professor Gilbert Kalonde and Ella Watson, Gallery Director of Haynes Hall, were instrumental in bringing the club back in Spring 2018. With the help of MSU undergraduate and club president Lyla Brown, as well as other fellow Black/African-American students and allies, the MSU chapter of BSU is returning to provide a safe space for discussion for Black/African-American students living in a predominantly white state.

Using the University of Montana’s BSU as a model, the club’s organizers worked with them to open up the conversation for MSU’s Black/African-American community. Last year, the club traveled to Missoula to meet UM’s BSU, which is also the longest running BSU in Montana, to attend the Black Solidarity Summit. BSU held a panel there and vice president Jamelle Phillips described the event as “necessary” for the future of the club. “We are working to make sure BSU sticks around this time and that it doesn’t fade away again because social issues affecting Black/African-American people still exist today” Phillips said.

Racial issues still remain a big deal everywhere and members of the club want to create a space in which members can share their experiences to feel safe and less alone. Phillips mentioned that, “The Charleston shooting happened only three years ago. People like to think just because the world is becoming more accepting that these issues are going away, but they’re still happening and are everywhere and they need to be talked about.”

BSU has some big events coming up. They are set to walk in the Homecoming parade in October and are currently working on their first event of the year. With various ethnic and racial student clubs on campus, Phillips thinks there is a misconception that those in ethnic clubs are being divisive and unwilling to assimilate by only sticking to each other, but that is not the case. Phillips believes that sometimes, “students need a person to talk to who can directly relate and that there’s nothing wrong with being with a group of people who share the same struggles as you.” The club is active and has created a community of friends and allies who stick together. BSU next meets Oct. 3 in Haynes Hall, Room 216 at 5:30 p.m. Regular meetings happen every other Wednesday and are open to students and community members. For more information, please email bsuatmsu@gmail.com.