By SOPHIE GOBLE
On Saturday, Oct. 3, Puget Sound’s Black Student Union (BSU) held the first Pierce County “BSU Extravaganza.” The event’s goal, laid out in the event’s pamphlet, was “to build a stronger, connected network for students across Tacoma and Pierce County.” Community partners from across Tacoma and Pierce County tabled in the Rotunda, offering flyers with resources, merch, and good conversation. The smells of catering from Southern Kitchen filled the room, and ladies donned in Alpha Kappa Alpha’s signature green and pink encouraged people to take a raffle ticket. The event began with mingling and had a set program in the middle, in which students and community partners shared about their organizations to the room. Past and present students from Puget Sound, University of Washington Tacoma, Pierce College, and surrounding high schools and middle schools attended, fulfilling the event’s goal of “creating lasting connections and pathways for students to thrive.”
Regina Glenn (‘70, MBA ‘71), a former President of Puget Sound’s Black Alumni Union (BAU), stated that the inspiration from this event came after the BAU received a generous donation from the Black Collective. The Black Collective is a community organization dedicated to addressing issues affecting the local black community. “We realized students come here from around the country, and they’re on our campuses in the Pacific Northwest, and they’re not aware of all the resources right in the city of Tacoma, or even closer by,” Glenn stated.
Lia Saucedo (‘28), the current president of Puget Sound’s BSU shared that the BAU reached out to the current BSU, prompting the event. “We wanted to make a larger event from BSUs in the area, and we wanted to do it in a way that was a little bit more formal, but also wondering how we would get them here,” Saucedo stated. Through a formal partnership between the BAU and BSU, or “coming together,” as Saucedo remarked, the BSU Extravaganza reflected months of hard work and organizing to bring the event to fruition. “I know that we have always wanted, and dreamt of an event with local Tacoma and Pierce County Black Student Unions. Bringing that to life was something that we imagined, and we see that now,” Saucedo said, gesturing to a lively room of people whose lives and experiences collectively span decades.
Current BAU President Louis Smith (‘69) agreed with Saucedo, stating that this event “could not have been done without the hands-on leadership and support of the current BSU.” Smith described the process in planning the event as working seamlessly, due to “dynamic” leadership from the BSU team. “They take initiative, they connect with us, and ask our input and our insight. And with that, the program is taken off,” Smith explained.
The extravaganza event is an example of the BAU’s mission coming to life. Since its inception in 2015, the BAU has supported students through its strategic vision of “creating generational value while empowering dreams.” Smith outlined the BAU’s mission in two parts: “First is to support the students that are currently matriculating through the university. Number two is to make sure that students realize their dreams, not only as undergraduates, but also as they graduate and they start their careers.” Smith commented that the BAU supports students through tangible measures. Last spring, BAU members donated airline miles to help support students attending the study abroad program in the American South, sponsored by the department of African American Studies. To Smith, the BAU is “there to provide connections with real life careers,” giving students “an opportunity to talk with people that have been there, have done that, and have walked the path that they are seeking to walk individually.”
The BSU extravaganza is the largest collaboration the BSU and BAU have ever worked on. “We got right around 60 folks, total. And that was a great turnout. We’re really pleased with it,” Smith said. For attendees, this event was one step in bringing in students in their respective BSUs together, which is especially important, as Saucedo explained, for students at predominantly white institutions. “It is sometimes really hard for groups of minority students to gather resources that are directed towards them. And so I think that making an event that is specific towards those students is what we were honestly just trying to do and also bringing us together.”
Smith, who started Puget Sound’s BSU during his time here in the 60’s, reflected on all of the progress that has been made for black individuals on campus. “We never would have imagined having an African-American president in the University. We never would have imagined having four or five members on the board of trustees.” Smith noted that if you look back in the archives, the board of trustees was made up of all white males for most of Puget Sound’s history. “It’s really something we look back and see, the changes that have been made,” Smith said.
Reflecting on her experience of the BSU on campus, Princess Akpotu (‘29) shared that “it’s a really fun space.” She specified that she “grew up in a community where 99% of everybody is black.” Akpotu, who was raised in Nigeria, says, “So it’s just nice to have a little pocket of space where I can just come like, ‘oh, I’m just like with people like me’ or like everyone’s just in that space for that brief time and then still go outside and be immersing in the rest of campus. It’s a nice little experience.” BSU events coordinator, Danika Wright (‘29), says, “It’s a union. That’s what it is. Bringing together communities into one. It’s actually pretty cool.”
BSU President Saucedo commented that this event is a reflection of the BSU’s growing membership. Previously, “We kind of were at a dead period of the Black Student Union,” Saucedo said. “So seeing this now and having a consistent like 20 to 30 people at our meetings, it’s so amazing, and I’m excited. And just lucky to be a part of it.”
Both BSU President Saucedo and former BAU President Glenn agree that the BSU Extravaganza is an event they hope to see recurring on an annual basis, though Glenn noted that she would love to see other campuses or organizations hosting and promoting in-person meetings. The most inspiring thing about this event, to Glenn, is seeing “the old and the new,” she stated while pointing out the younger people in the crowd. “They can see there’s a road of connecting.”
The BSU Extravaganza can be summed up in a sentence from Glenn, “The camaraderie that you could feel today was natural. It’s like a time has come.” Puget Sound’s Black Student Union meets Thursdays 8 to 9 p.m. in the Student Diversity Center. You can follow BSU on Instagram for updates @pugetsoundbsu.