BSA Involvement at a "Commuter School"

[Senusret I]

First, a shameless plug.

Second, Black Student Alliances have to strike a balance between the social, the political, and the informative, as you say. I don't envy you. I was involved with both the NAACP and the BSA on my own campus. It's tough. My school didn't recognize NPHC orgs either, so we were very careful about what we did/how we included them.

Focusing on the freshman and sophomores is a great start. I'd say the average level of involvement for any campus org will be about two years anyway. The location change is also good.

If your budget is big/strong/solid, then I say go for the gusto and try to get a major speaker as the linchpin event of the year. Cornel West, Michael Eric Dyson, any of the tried and true folks that a campus will throw extra money at.

Consider a "theme" for the programming for the year and/or your administration. It will help you focus and have people on one page when it comes to understanding the point of being part of a movement. Here's an example of a theme which seems exclusive, but isn't:

"The Black Man and Black Woman in the 21st Century: Reaffirming the Mind, Body, and Spirit"


September - General body meeting/freshman orientation: have a panel discussion with seniors giving advice to freshmen

October - LGBT History Month - focus on James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, Bayard Rustin, and other black LGBT historical figures - many LGBT offices and orgs struggle to do programming of interest to students of color

November - Conduct a book discussion based on Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen (or bring him to speak) and discuss parallels between the African and Native American holocausts.

December - Chill Day - Last day of classes, barbecue on the lawn or some common area and play music

January - Black Greekdom Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (Get a guest speaker like Gregory Parks or Lawrence Ross or me)

February - Black History Month Fliering - Post fliers every week of different heroes from Black History

March - Women's History Month events: Women's only talk/panel discussion (We called it Sister Talk at Georgetown); concurrently have a Brother to Brother discussion focused on how men can stop rape and sexual assault

April - National Stress Out Day with Active Minds

Good luck! Hope these ideas get your juices flowing!

[lulutnl3]

I was actually looking at some old threads and your books came up and I was looking them up on Amazon.

Regarding the budget, our school doesn't support the clubs at all financially so all the money we need, we have to earn ourselves. Unfortunately our previous club officers didn't get a bank account, and somehow we have less than $50 to our club's name. Myself and the Co-President are probably going to have to spend money out of pocket for a lot of the events.

Thank you for the ideas!!! I will definitely pass them on. I'm trying to also work with other clubs on campus (Feminist Club, the Queer Alliance club..etc), but we will see.

I definitely love the ideas of the speakers coming onto our campus though. Are you signing up for the position yourself?

Originally Posted by Senusret I

First, a shameless plug.

Second, Black Student Alliances have to strike a balance between the social, the political, and the informative, as you say. I don't envy you. I was involved with both the NAACP and the BSA on my own campus. It's tough. My school didn't recognize NPHC orgs either, so we were very careful about what we did/how we included them.

Focusing on the freshman and sophomores is a great start. I'd say the average level of involvement for any campus org will be about two years anyway. The location change is also good.

If your budget is big/strong/solid, then I say go for the gusto and try to get a major speaker as the linchpin event of the year. Cornel West, Michael Eric Dyson, any of the tried and true folks that a campus will throw extra money at.

Consider a "theme" for the programming for the year and/or your administration. It will help you focus and have people on one page when it comes to understanding the point of being part of a movement. Here's an example of a theme which seems exclusive, but isn't:

"The Black Man and Black Woman in the 21st Century: Reaffirming the Mind, Body, and Spirit"


September - General body meeting/freshman orientation: have a panel discussion with seniors giving advice to freshmen

October - LGBT History Month - focus on James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, Bayard Rustin, and other black LGBT historical figures - many LGBT offices and orgs struggle to do programming of interest to students of color

November - Conduct a book discussion based on Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen (or bring him to speak) and discuss parallels between the African and Native American holocausts.

December - Chill Day - Last day of classes, barbecue on the lawn or some common area and play music

January - Black Greekdom Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (Get a guest speaker like Gregory Parks or Lawrence Ross or me)

February - Black History Month Fliering - Post fliers every week of different heroes from Black History

March - Women's History Month events: Women's only talk/panel discussion (We called it Sister Talk at Georgetown); concurrently have a Brother to Brother discussion focused on how men can stop rape and sexual assault

April - National Stress Out Day with Active Minds

Good luck! Hope these ideas get your juices flowing!

[Senusret I]

Originally Posted by lulutnl3

I definitely love the ideas of the speakers coming onto our campus though. Are you signing up for the position yourself?

Not as a volunteer.

But check in your local community and on your faculty. There may be experts who would be willing to speak to your membership at no cost.

[lulutnl3]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

Not as a volunteer.

But check in your local community and on your faculty. There may be experts who would be willing to speak to your membership at no cost.

Sounds good. Thank you again. If I ever get our club to a point where we have a high amount of funds, I'll be sure to let you know.