Black Student Union held their official kick-off event which consisted of classic icebreakers, food, and a straight talk session. The straight talk session is where people anonymously write down questions they wouldn’t usually ask someone in person on any topic such as race or societal controversies.

“Yeah, it was fun and very talkative,” freshman BSU member Ja Qori said. “You got to sit in a circle and talk about political views.”

Another BSU member, Joseph Salvatierra, enjoyed the meeting as well.

“[It was] social [and] fun,” Salvatierra said.

Instead of their usual low attendance, students of all backgrounds and races met last Tuesday to see what BSU was all about.

“I think it went really well,” Adanna Okere, junior and Vice President of BSU, said. “I’m so happy that people actually came and participated. It’s so refreshing. Because we’ve had like two, three people show up every week and it’s great to have more than that, you know, different people show up and give their opinions and stuff.”

The meeting was a success with members discussing a variety of different topics such as racism and racial appropriation, social structures in high schools and police brutality.

“I enjoyed it so much,” Okere said. “I love being able to listen to other questions that people have and being able to not only answer them but listen to other people’s insights and, like, their ideas about the certain topic or the question.”

Members also recognized the importance of talking about these issues.

“Because if we don’t talk about them now,” Qori said, “then nobody’s going to talk about it and so we keep going on and on and things are going to happen that we don’t want to happen like fighting, wars, and all this stuff that you don’t want really. [It’s important to] spread awareness.”