Black Student Union and Black Student-Athletes Alliance Co-Host Cookout
Two of Marist’s Black student organizations, BSU and BSAA, collaborated to host a barbecue on the campus green.
Students from Marist's BSU and BSAA organizations together on the campus green. Credit: @marist_bsu on Instagram
The Black Student Union collaborated with the Black Student-Athletes Alliance to host a cookout on the campus green on Sept. 6.
The cookout presented a lively atmosphere for students to stop by and enjoy a delicious spread of hamburgers and hotdogs, play games like spike ball and bean bag toss and listen to some soulful R&B hits. Students were encouraged to come dressed to represent their native flag or favorite sports jersey, on par with BSU’s focus on cultural pride, and BSAA’s centralization around athletes.
BSU is Marist College’s student organization promoting community-building initiatives among students of color. The organization offers a safe space for students of various cultural backgrounds to come together for social events, cultural gatherings and open conversations surrounding intersectionality, mental health and more.
BSAA is Marist’s student organization dedicated to empowering student-athletes of color. Since its inception in 2020, the club has worked to give a voice to Black, Indigenous and people of color who are student-athletes.
Having these communities of students on campus contributes to the goal of encouraging diversity, equity and inclusion on campus across various sectors, including the athletics department.
This year, BSAA was invited to attend the Black Student-Athletes Summit, a conference that invites Black student-athletes from college campuses all over the country, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
The Summit encouraged the voices of these students to be heard through the collective sharing of experiences that Black athletes have while participating in athletics at their respective schools.
This summit brought to light how the Black experience, especially at predominantly white institutions, may be overlooked, and it inspired BSAA to come together with other students of color for some fun on the campus green.
“Yes, we are Black students, but we’re always with other people…we wanted to connect with BSU because we really wanted to get everybody together,” said Nicholas Jackson ‘25, vice president of BSAA.
Students were excited to see cultural diversity be represented on campus through this event.
“It was an incredibly inspiring event that made me feel welcomed and included,” said student-athlete Taylor Anderson ‘27. “It’s reassuring to know that I have a network of people who genuinely care and are there for me.”
Jackson remarked that one of the primary goals of the organization, and one of the main drivers of the BSU and BSAA collaboration, was to create a space for Black students and student-athletes to feel comfortable on campus.
“We just want for Black student-athletes to feel comfortable and have them know they have a safe community to come to,” said Jackson.