By Emily Ford
Contributing Writer
The Black student population at Dominican University is 7% amongst the majority made up of Hispanic and white students within the student body. This means that Black students on campus need a community, now more than ever.
Black Student Union (BSU) found itself fighting to stay together after a long year off campus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Elise Ndoe-Gouag, one of two student presidents of the BSU, shares that the student-created organization was almost disbanded last year.
“The adviser of our organization retired, which meant we had to find another staff or faculty member to take their place,” she said. “This was a challenge for us because most of the staff and faculty at Dominican is white. We were almost disbanded because of that.”
The new advisor for BSU is Gabriella Nicholas, who is also the assistant director of the Cultural Center for Liberation, and The Village, a support program for incoming students of color.
Ndoe-Gouag saidthat the representation of Black students is minimal at Dominican so she and co-president Zoie Smith, is doing everything they can within the organization to create a stronger community.
“We host as many events as we can to bring people together and everyone is welcome,” she said. “But it’s also difficult because most of the Black students that attend Dominican don’t live on campus. Most of them commute, making it difficult to make them stay longer after class.”
She said that the priority of the BSU is to build a stronger community, but they are hoping to receive more resources from the DU to make them possible.
The uphill battle of trying to entice students to stay for meetings or events while understanding that many of them have long commutes to make it to campus in the first place is something that they are focusing on.
The BSU is hosting more consistent meetings and reaching out to more students to make sure they are aware of the organization’s presence.
“We are going to start hosting events during the day instead of in the evening. Some students might have class, but students will at least be on campus at that point. We would also love more support from the university for incentives,” said Ndoe-Gouag.
The BSU is looking into bringing up their ideas to university president, Glena Temple. They hope to possibly add a class credit for being a member of the BSU so that students can additionally benefit from being a member.
This solution would not only draw in more students but would help them understand that the university attaches value to this organization as well. It would be a start to helping Black students at Dominican gain an amplified voice by taking pride in being part of the BSU.
Like many other student organizations, the need for attendance is at an all-time high after the reopening of campus. The BSU is hoping to make a better presence not just by helping Black students but by welcoming all students to join their organization.
Nicholas agrees with Ndoe-Gouag saying that community building is her first priority as well.
“I have been here at Dominican since March and I believe that community is the first step in making an inclusive space for students,” she said. “The Village program helps a lot with them, and we are working on building up the BSU for better representation of Black students.”
