The African Student Association, and the Black Student Union put on a meet and greet event on Sep. 29 to welcome students and educate them on what the two student programs do.
According to Marketing Officer Nefi Clark, BSU is “a group where minority students of African descent come to congregate to the learning of the students for education opportunities, employment opportunities, and any other kind of opportunities.”
Clark believes she has ideas that could appeal to people, including “outreaches for high schools and neighborhoods that have a lot of minorities.”
Specifically speaking, Clark intends on reaching out to “African American students that are very underrepresented and don’t get the opportunity to come to college.” Clark is also a member of DECA, a business program at BC, and she has participated in outreaches on their behalf as well.
BSU’s head coordinator Miranda Tamnkang is a third year Business Administration major, and has been involved with BSU since she started school at Bellevue College in 2012. Tamnkang explained that some of their goals are “solidarity, building retention in not only the school but the program itself, and spreading awareness of the black community on campus.”
Relations officer for BSU, Jada Rogers, elaborated stating that BSU also exists to “bring students of color together and talk about what it is to be a black student at BC,” which according to Rogers means “representing yourself and your culture right.”
Rogers had been interested in serving since she was little, stating that “My mom works for King County, so she’s always influenced me to volunteer help.” Rogers is someone who loves to communicate and work with people, and she said that “seeing how good I had it showed me that I can be a better person for the world.”
Tamnkang said she has “always had a passion for leadership and student service.” Having worked in customer service for multiple years she discovered that she really loved helping people, and this drove her to apply for the marketing officer position.
Regarding her position as a student leader, Tamnkang said “having a voice is more than pushing people around or trying to get people to do events. You’re engaged with students and you connect with them.” She said that “When you have a leader, those followers are also leaders to other followers.” Tamnkang finished by saying that her leadership position is “sharing that power and sharing that importance through the campus by letting people know you are relatable and that everyone has a story and everyone should know about it.”
BSU meets every 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Thursdays in room A256. All students are welcome to join in and get involved.