On the Black Student Union

In the spring of 2006, I was invited to partake in a series of meetings between black student group leaders on campus in order to discuss the possible reformation of Black Leaders on Campus (BLOC). Scheduling conflicts often arose between the black groups on campus, serving to starve most of these organizations of the strong turnout they hungered for, and BLOC was to be a means of coordinating this mash of events.

Under the umbrella of the Black Student Union (BSU), BLOC had existed in years past, but for one reason or another it became dormant after a short amount of time. These meetings, filled with possibility, began on the wrong foot, when a large contingent of black student groups united in their disapproval of the BSU continued its leadership of the organization. The reasons behind these feelings were different, but the underlying resentment directed at the BSU is what seemed to bind them all.

I came into Princeton believing that the BSU was exactly what it said it was — an umbrella organization that worked its hardest to foster a sense of community for all students of the African Diaspora on campus. Instead, the spring 2006 BLOC meetings served to formulate my current view of the black leadership structure at Princeton, where the BSU served not as a uniting force, but as a flashpoint of anger for the black cultural groups it overshadowed, in the eyes of the campus and the administration at large.

This idea of black unity was further undermined when arguments over elements of programming brought planning for the 2006 Pan-African Graduation ceremony to almost a complete halt. The Pan-African Graduation was intended to bring black seniors together for a smaller ceremony celebrating their achievements, but before the event took place I received, along with my co-organizers, a dose of realism concerning the state of black unity here at Princeton. Differing cultural interpretations over the occurrence of a libation and the venomous emails illustrating those differences, shed light on the wide rift between native African students and African Americans here at the University. Not only African student leaders were hostile toward the idea of a libation. Numerous forwarded emails supposedly stemming from African student leaders gave many on the committee the impression that these students had little interest in the idea of a Pan-African Graduation driven by African-American students.

After these events, the BSU ceased to possess the special place among black groups it once held in my mind. It was just another group on campus, to be picked up or dropped depending on my desire and availability. I went to a meeting here or there during the fall, and I even flirted with the possibility of becoming a top officer in the organization (the idea of being perceived as Head Negro in Charge, though hollow, is mighty tempting). But because I preferred to keep my extracurricular activities as they were, I stepped aside and decided to continue my current course.

Time has allowed me to witness how other cultural groups such as the Princeton Association of Black Women, Akwaaba (an African student group), Princeton Caribbean Connection and the Union of Multiracial/Multicultural Students provide black students every outlet to pursue their interests in issues of race. Specialization is a requirement of good economics, so why would Princeton be different? Even if we restrict our gaze to our diverse black community, how can we expect one organization, namely the BSU, with about seven or eight officers, to effectively represent their needs on even the most general level? And it could, what would this basic fulfillment consist of?

I don't pretend to have any answers, but I do have a recommendation or two. The University administration, though it probably wouldn't admit it, views the BSU president as the leading representative of black students on campus. This fallacy likely serves to inhibit comprehensive exchange between all black leaders and leading administrators, an exchange required to ensure the steady improvement of our condition here at the University. Discussions may actually take place on a low-profile basis, but the surface profile of these groups must be raised if only to reduce the simmering tensions that persist due to little more than a misunderstanding of the BSU's proper place.

The administration and the other tools of influence here on campus, including The Daily Princetonian and the USG, must eliminate their conception of the all-encompassing black leader because he or she does not exist. The reality is that 20-plus cultural groups subsist on this campus, all with student leaders possessing equal credibility in articulating the issues that involve the diverse slice of black students here at Princeton. But even these individuals fail to account for a community broken in a million pieces ideologically, and in the end it's best to approach blacks on campus — even if you see them sitting together at Frist — just as you approach the other 4,000 students here on campus: as individuals. David Smart is a sophomore from Los Angeles, Calif. He can be reached at dsmart@princeton.edu.