GMercyU’s Black Student Union (BSU) is a well known club and community on campus. The BSU provides a safe space for all students on campus to discuss social and political issues, and connect with their peers. With events such as the annual Pan-African flag raising, and most recently their annual dance “Caribbean Night”, the Black Student Union has certainly made an impact on the campus community, and will continue to do so in the future.
Samantha Peralte, the president of the BSU, wants to continue this trend of creating highly engaging events. “We’ve had like a mixture of everything under the sun that people will like. If they want to see it, we can try to make it happen.” Peralte encourages all students to get involved with the club, regardless of race or ethnicity.
The BSU has celebrated a variety of cultures throughout the 2024-2025 school year. With Dashiki Day, International Night, BSU Family Feud, and Caribbean Night, The BSU has had a lot of success engaging the campus community.
“BSU is not only a safe space for people of color or minorities, because this is a PWI [predominantly white institution]… as much as it is a space for that, we accept everybody. I feel like when people hear ‘Black Student Union’ they’re intimidated by the black part, but it really is a space for everybody.”
The first BSU was established at San Francisco State University in 1966, and was a product of the Black Campus Movement. The Black Campus Movement consisted of students at universities across the United States to demand an increase in campus inclusivity. Since then, BSUs have developed into important campus communities that provide safe spaces and raise awareness on social and political issues.
At GMercyU, the BSU provides an outlet for students needing to get things off their chest. To Peralte, this outlet is what kept her in BSU. “Whether the issue is a very social issue, whether the issue is really minor, I just have a space to talk about my day to people who will listen and understand what I feel, and that was just the most important thing to me.”
In the future, Peralte looks forward to raising awareness for social issues, holding more events, and increasing the club’s membership. “The more that we gain from other people, we can gain more connections and more people can understand our culture, what we like to talk about, social issues, it’d just be really beneficial.”
Further information on how to join the Black Student Union can be found on their GriffinEngage page.
