Last year I had the liberty of being one of the team leaders for College Reunion, the culminating event for the University’s Black History Month celebration. It’s a time where students from LSU and surrounding schools get together to celebrate black culture with food, music, games and prizes.
The semester started off great, with many students eager to make the event a success. As the weeks went by, not only did my fellow team leader resign, but fewer and fewer students showed up to meetings. I was eventually left doing everything by myself with the help of the African American Cultural Center graduate assistant.
After College Reunion was over, and I was finally able to relax, I took to Twitter. What I saw was heartbreaking. Although the event seemed like a success, people tweeted about how it was “wack.” The funny thing is, the people who were on Twitter complaining were the same people enjoying the free food and entertainment.
It is up to the African-American population to make these events as successful as possible. Instead of complaining about how it could have been better, make an effort to actually come to a meeting and give input. The more input and resources, the better the outcome of each event.
If there were no Black History Month Committee, there would be no activities on campus dedicated to Black History Month. And if there were no activities dedicated to Black History Month, there would be a few thousand angry black people on campus.
But here is where the problem lies: We do have a committee that plans events for Black History Month. Yet, every Wednesday at 4:30 p.m., the same few people show up to help plan.
What irritates me the most is the lack of participation, enthusiasm and unity. The majority of people at this university are white. They don’t care about having a BHM Committee and making sure LSU celebrates Black History Month. Would a group of white students ever get together and plan out events specifically for the black population on campus?
No, they wouldn’t.
The AACC was designed to be an outlet for African-American students, a place where they could go to see someone like them. Let’s use our resources. One day, if there is no AACC or BHM Committee, then we will actually have something to complain about.
Although not limited to African-American students, this is a committee for us. It is a way to express ourselves as black students and cater to what we want to see on campus during a month that showcases black achievements.
According to the LSU Office of Budget and Planning website, a total of 3,228 African-American students were enrolled in the University for fall 2013. You mean to tell me out of that many African-American students on campus, fewer than 30 contributed to planning events for Black History Month?
The BHM Committee isn’t the only African-American organization on campus, and the only reason students aren’t as enthusiastic about it as others is because you have to work. It’s not a “drop in and say hey” type of committee. It’s not the type of committee where you can skip a few meetings. It requires dedication.
The Black History Month Committee is just as important as the Black Student Union, NAACP, AACC Ambassadors and all the other African-American organizations on campus. It deserves as much effort and participation as the others.
If you don’t use it, you lose it. So let’s work to make our Black History Month celebration even better than last year’s.
Taylor Simien is a 20-year-old mass communication junior from Lafayette, Louisiana. You can reach her on Twitter @TSimien_TDR.