The Black Student Union is back at Seattle Central College

The Black Student Union (BSU) is again active at Seattle Central College (SCC). To celebrate its revival, a fundraising party was held in collaboration with SCC’s Veterans Student Union (VSU). 

The BSU has been inactive for the past few years – like many other student clubs and organizations. However, the BSU has been revived and is back with great leadership and planned activities for its members. 

To celebrate its relaunch, the BSU and VSU of our school collaborated to hold a fundraising party on May 4, from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in SCC’s atrium. It was the BSU’s first fundraising event since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the first event created by the current club officers. 

The event was called “Good Vibes Party,” and there was food, drinks, decorations, a dragon dance, bubbles, music, a dance floor, and of course… good vibes! 

The main purpose of the event was to raise awareness for the contributions of African Americans to techno and electronic music, and also for everyone to have fun. 

BSU’s Vice President Nina Lopez told us that the group wants to raise funds to be able to have larger events at the school, since they’d love to get more student engagement and people to socialize. “Recovering from Covid has been hard,” she remarked. 

The preparation for the event started the day before with decorations and setting up equipment. On the day of the event, the preparation continued and started around 4:30 p.m. in the event room. There was a big table where BSU and VSU members began welcoming the early birds and curious passers-by. 

I was lucky enough to be there for most of the previous day as well as the day of the event. The preparations were very relaxed and friendly. People were volunteering to help while listening to music. 

I talked with members of both student clubs, and the VSU students told me about their stories in the army, coast guard, and other military branches they have served. Fortunately, none of the veterans that I have talked to were sent to direct combat, but they were deployed around the U.S. mainland and overseas territories for military practices duties and humanitarian aid. 

The BSU members are from diverse locations as well. The President of the BSU, Shadai Cannon, is from Florida, and the Vice President, Lopez, from Mississippi. I talked to both and asked them what they think about the outcome of the event. They told me that even though they would have loved to have more people at the event, it was still successful: “People had a lot of fun socializing with each other, enjoying the food, dancing, and that is very important for us,” said Lopez. 

The event was also very shortly live streamed via The Seattle Collegian’s YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/@theseattlecollegian9073. 
 

 
If you’d like to join the BSU club, you can do so by sending them a message via Instagram at @bsu_central, or by joining an in-person weekly meeting. The club meets every Wednesday from 12:00 p.m.  to 2:00 p.m. in various locations at the Seattle Central College campus. You can email any of the current officers to ask for more information. 

Shadai Cannon (P): Shadai.s.cannon@seattlecolleges.edu 

Nina Lopez (VP): Nina.Lopez@seattlecolleges.edu 

Lastly, Lopez clarified to us that you don’t necessarily need to be a Black student in order to join the Black Students Union at SCC. Anyone can join, regardless of race or ethnicity. She also encourages students to follow the BSU’s Instagram account for the latest updates with the club’s activities.