BCA final multimedia post
Black Culture Awareness
How Black Culture Awareness can bring students together at High Point University.
by : Airion sanders
Q news
High Point University is a predominantly white school. According to Jay Lowery, the total enrollment is 4,910 students. 7.1% are black, 2.4% are Asian, 6.7% are Hispanic, and 76.4% of students are white.
Since the percentage of the black student population is low, compared to the population of white students,HPU has almost 100 clubs and organizations providing diverse opportunities for students to get involved in, and the Black Culture Awareness organization is one of them.
The Black Culture Awareness organization was established in1990, which promotes awareness of black culture and black heritage, at HPU and throughout the High Point community.The main goal of BCA is to bring students together that have a common interest in black culture, and provides a safe space for free expression of views on the social, ecominc, legal, and political aspects of issues that are affecting the black community.
The starting point of BCA:
LaNita Williams has helped students at High Point University for almost 30 years. In 1987, she helped students form the organization. She gave insight on the organization and how it came to be .
“We probably have not had a black organization since late 70s, early 80s,” she said. “There was a group of students in the late 80s that realized that we didn’t have one and they wanted to form one.” she said.
“Mainly the goal was to promote the black culture on campus, so they approached me and asked me if I would be their advisor.” “so we officially became an organization in 1990.”
Williams also talked about struggles that may have been within the organization, and she continued to elaborate on the proper steps that needed to be taken in order to fully form BCA.
“It was a matter of getting the organization.” “I think we had to have a mission statement,” “I believe SGA had to look at it”. Williams stated.
Student’s journey to leadership in BCA:
President of BCA Aleah Hayes, who is a senior at High Point, opened up about her experience and how she got introduced to BCA.
“It happened during my Freshman year, during the involvement fair, where they had all of the clubs come out and display everything.” “The woman that was running the club seemed very intelligent, very likable.” “ so I asked for about it and they said “the first club meeting was this and this date make sure you come out”.
“So I did, and ever since I was hooked because, as a black student going to a predominantly white university, I want to make sure I find my group of people, and make sure I got connected with my black culture .” she said.
“At first I wasn’t really confident in my black culture, being black and what that really meant. So I thought this group would be the best place for me to find my blackness and more so be comfortable in that.” Hayes stated.
Hayes chimed in on the overall message that she and other members of BCA wanted to bring to the table.
“I would say that the essential value that we try to convey to our members is unity in the black community.” “ Even though we are black and we are the minority in the university, we want to make sure that we are not divided as black people.” she said.
She continued to express how she wants to encourage students to talk to any black students they see on campus and be friendly towards each other.
“In terms of what we want to convey towards just the majority of people on campus that are white, is that you can come to BCA even though it is a black organization, we do welcome everybody no matter what skin tone, racial background you come from, we open it up because we want to share our culture with people and we don’t want to seem exclusive or prejudice in any way being a black organization.”
“Our doors are opened to everybody, white people are more than happy to come to learn about us and to see us in a different light they may have not seen.”
“ There are about 36 members give or take, we try to gain members continuously throughout the year.” She said.
“Black culture is viewed in a very negative light in America, we are known as thugs, or being ghetto, loud especially through the movies that are shown in a very stereotypical way,” she said. “ The whole point of this organization is to bring light to the situation, to show that we are multidimensional people and we don’t just fit into one box of stereotypes.”
“we want to show that we are different and we are intelligent, beautiful, bright black people, and people should get to know us on an individual basis rather than generalize us to stereotypes you see on tv.” she said.
Experiences of other students in BCA:
SGA representative , K’Lynn Ware, a Junior at HPU, also opened up about her experience with BCA and she was also introduced to the organization.
“Freshman year,I came into college with a mindset of meeting so many people in my major but unfortunately going to a predominantly white school, I didn’t find a lot of people that looked like me, or people that I could relate to .” she said.
She expressed how at the time, she wanted another outlet, even though she felt that she could relate to people outside of her demographic, which further explains how she found BCA.
“I was only a member at the time, so I would go to the meetings, they would host club meetings twice a month, and I would go and have a great time, go with my friends that I met that semester, and it was always just a good time.” she said.
She indicated that when she would go to these meetings, they would have conversations about black experiences on campus and what to expect since there were mostly Freshmen that were trying to get to know each other and build relationships. She talked about the impact of covid, as she transitioned to her sophomore year.
“Well covid hit, and I guess furthering into my sophomore year, I was inducted to be Student Government Association Representative.” “I would go to the SGA meetings every Thursday, we would talk about the bills and what we needed for the club as far as events went.” she said.
Ware opened up about the enjoyment of BCA and how it allowed her to have a voice and have the black experience on campus.
“ I really enjoyed being a part of a black club on campus that allowed me to have a voice, and have that black experience even though, it's not a full black experience just because were are on a PWI campus, it's still nice to know that I have people to go to, and talk to them about life, school, and different other things.”
Like Hayes, Ware also wants to encourage the majority of Students to understand that minorities are present, and how important it is to make sure that everyone feels included in regards to campus events, and different organizations on campus.
“I just want us to be heard, and to feel important, to feel like we are showcased in a good light, and always striving for the best.” “ I just want us to be more highlighted on campus.” She said.
She also talked about how she wants to encourage more students to join BCA.
“Anybody can join BCA, even though we target minorities on campus, we include everybody on campus.” “ I think the club is important to have on campus just because they're little numbers as far as minorities on campus.” she said.
“It allows us to branch off and connect with different people on campus, and it allows different opportunities in life and that’s why it's important to have black culture awareness on campus.”
Other Related stories:
https://studentaffairs.calpoly.edu/why-black-cultural-centers-matter
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