Multicultural Club Focused on a Common Cause, Black Student Alliance

With a title like Black Student Alliance (BSA), a White American, Hispanic, Asian, or European student may be hesitant to join or ask questions to gain knowledge of the mission of the club. In a recent interview with BSA President, Sheketra Payne, it was made clear that any student can join the organization as long as a simple criterion is met, “be a decent human being with an open mind. That’s about all you need.” 

It is easy to think that being experienced in fighting the isms of the world and being organized are requirements to join BSA, but rest assured those are not prerequisites for membership. Not only do these criteria hold no weight, neither does ethnic background. According to Payne, “We live lives filled with intersectionality and it would be a huge disservice to the club if we didn’t have those same intersects represented within our membership.”

“The most fundamental principle of BSA is to provide a safe and welcoming space for minority students and their allies. Racism has been a rampant issue in this country for centuries and those affected by it have always needed a place to gather, release some of those burdens, and formulate how to use those experiences to advocate for change,” said Payne. BSA at PVCC is a safe place for students “to be seen and heard,” according to Payne. This is a place that stands on the foundation of allowing members to turn any challenges into strength to combat the oppression and evils of the world that may weigh them down.

Just by existing, BSA gives individuals a chance to feel safe in a time of such uncertainty, especially those of minority communities throughout Charlottesville and PVCC. 

“I believe we are helping by challenging both communities to be better. We use a variety of mediums to educate and amplify the lesser known experience in an effort to initiate community members to be more mindful of the ways in which they live. Most aren’t actively perpetuating the ism’s that plague this world but many do participate unconsciously. We strive to spark conversations that stimulate growth on an individual level. It’s impossible to change the systems if the mindsets of the individuals engaging in said systems don’t change also,” said Payne. 

BSA works to provide whatever tools are necessary to help individuals succeed, whether it is hot chocolate during finals week, raising money for the less fortunate, or creating events to bring focus to underrepresented issues. 

“We like to look for and provide solutions no matter how large or small the problem may be,” said Payne.

Much like other clubs on campus, joining BSA can be simple. Payne said, “All students have to do is reach out and express interest. This can be done one of several ways. Interested students may reach out to PVCC’s Coordinator of Student Engagement & Student Life – Shawn Anderson, or an existing club member. Any of those roads will lead to membership. There’s no application or background check required. We promise.” 

Due to COVID-19, the structure of club meetings has changed from every Wednesday at noon in the Financial Resource Center to every other Wednesday at noon via Zoom. In order to gain access to meetings, “Our secretary, Kerri Gentius, sends meeting links and reminders to each member. If any non-members would like to attend a meeting, we ask that they reach out via email to either myself or Kerri to receive an invitation link,” said Payne.

“BSA is an excellent place to cultivate leadership skills. We afford all of our members the opportunity to organize and lead events with the safety net of having the entire club supporting them as a team. We actively encourage it. This allows those who aren’t accustomed to leading to grow comfortable within the role without fear of failure. The support and safety of the space also allows them the chance to grow their confidence about their leadership style and skill set,” said Payne. 

BSA also prides itself on providing the same support for academic and cultural awareness. Prior to COVID-19, BSA held study sessions to support members and encouraged them to come for help regardless of what subject area they struggled with. During study sessions, conversations would often lead to eye-opening discussions on different cultures, heritage, and other aspects of members’ lives. 

“Since COVID-19, we haven’t been able to gather for those study sessions but we’re still available to members as a virtual collective and yes, those expanding conversations are still occurring,” said Payne, providing an alternative to in-person groupings.

With mental health being in the forefront of the challenges in the lives of college students, BSA acts as a support group for members to an extent. 

“While we aren’t experts in the mental health field, we all understand the value of a safe and supportive space. If more support is needed, while we don’t have a therapy fund, we do have the incomparable Amanda Key on our team. Ms. Key is fundamental to us all keeping our sanity. She provides crisis counseling, a shoulder to cry on (or vent to), and most importantly, she’s willing to ‘pull our card’ as my grandmother would say. She’s an honest and loving voice of reason – a ‘Big Momma’ of sorts. She makes sure we don’t neglect ourselves while advocating for others. She also helps to connect us with mental health resources beyond the halls of PVCC if more support is needed,” said Payne.

“BSA has several events in the works. We will be releasing a calendar of events on our club page (https://www.pvcc.edu/black-student-alliance) within the coming weeks. We also announce events on our Facebook page (https://m.facebook.com/pvccbsa/). We’ve spent most of this semester formulating, organizing, and restructuring the club itself but we have many awesome things on the horizon. There is one initiative that I am incredibly excited about. Unfortunately, I can’t provide the ‘big scoop’ as it’s just reaching the final stages of planning before implementation,” said Payne. Members and those who are interested in joining the Black Student Alliance are encouraged to attend meetings to get involved and be in the know of the most up-to-date information on BSA events.

As parting words, Payne said, “I want to stress that while BSA is Black centered, we are not a Black only club. We try to model the welcoming openness we wish to see in the world.” 

BSA is here at PVCC to provide students with an opportunity to join an organization that focuses on civic leadership, supporting the PVCC and Charlottesville communities, encouraging individuals to push forward with education, and “eradicating the ism’s of the world,” quoted from Payne. Students can help by supporting local organizations like BSA and being a resource for change. 

“Like most advocacy organizations, our needs are quite simple, yet difficult to obtain. We need bodies. We need active members. We need people who are willing to commit to participating in events and we need people to carry the conversations sparked out into the larger world. We need amplification via people engaging,” said Payne.

Anyone interested in joining BSA should contact the club officers whose contact information is listed below:

Sheketra Payne, president: bsapresident010@gmail.com

Amelia Davis, vice president: basvicepresident010@gmail.com

Kerri Gentius, secretary: bsasecretary010@gmail.com