The presence of BSU’s multicultural organizations has steadily declined since the COVID-19 pandemic. As of Fall 2024, only eight multicultural organizations remain registered with the Lewis & Gaines Center for Equity and Inclusion (LGCIE), a significant decrease from the 18 active groups from before. The loss is felt by students like Ari Vaughn (she/her), who shared, “I don’t know where and how the clubs are taking place, and I think that’s a problem for me being a student of color at this institution. I’m paying money to go here, but where do I go to be included and not feel out of place?”.
However, it was not always like this. Student Daniel Jean-Baptiste (’25) (he/him) remembers a different campus when he first arrived back in 2018. “When I first time came here, there were lots of events both on and off campus”, he shared. “There were fun educational events sponsored by the school and also parties. After that, everything just died out”.
The struggle to maintain multicultural organizations is ongoing. Each academic year, several groups fail to register with the Center for Student Engagement (CSE), choosing not to continue after their leadership graduates. Jean-Baptiste pointed to the challenges of organizing campus events, citing strict requirements from CSE. “To go through CSE, you have to plan and ask for funding months, sometimes even a year in advance,” he explained. “A lot of e-board members are Seniors, so it doesn’t make sense to plan an event that they’re not going to be there for.” This creates a cycle where students hesitate to take on leadership roles…