黑人学生联盟50:它的影响,意义和未来

Mezue Eneh ’22 and Jaylen Bell ’21 outside The Johnson House
Mezue Eneh ’22 (left), the community manager of The Johnson House, and Jaylen Bell ’21, president of the Black Student Union. (Photo: Jake Belcher)
beplay平台下载巴布森杂志

Winter 2020–2021

共同的房间The Johnson Houseis where the magic happens.

在日常的基础上,美国居民的14人只是通过学生生活的细节,学习,课外活动,企业,未来计划 - 但这是我们两四个或六个人的时刻只是坐在公共的房间里,这一切都值得。

The Johnson House is the new special-interest housing for members of the黑色学生联盟(BSU). It’s extra special for us not only because of the hard work it took in the past year to secure the 15-room housing in Canfield Hall, but also because it’s named for the founder of the BSU, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

Johnson House的中心是我们公平的房间。这就是我们聚在一起的地方,拥抱脆弱性和阳性。那就是我们聚集的地方,放松,玩得开心,并思考关于让我们同样的事情的深刻问题,是什么让我们不同,是什么让我们独特。

另一个夜晚,BSU的首席运营官和Mezue Eneh'22,Johnson House的社区经理,发生了关于梦想的谈话 - 他们的意思,以及我们如何与他们联系。该空间中的动能很快吸引了其他居民 - 其引力牵引我们的社区生活和目的。

这就是黑人学生联盟对我们意味着什么。

Historical photos from the Black Student Union
Over a half-century, the members of the Black Student Union have impacted not only life on Babson’s campus and the wider community but also one another’s lives.

“一个舒适和支持的地方”

埃里克·约翰逊72年P ' 08年knows all about dreams—having them, fostering them, realizing them.

一个成功的商人的儿子,在芝加哥的南侧提出,约翰逊现在是Baldwin Richardson Foods的总裁兼首席执行官,是食品行业最大的黑人拥有的一家。他在20世纪60年代后期来到Babsobeplay平台下载beplay平台最稳定n College的路上,让人想起今天的种族和政治紧张局势。

Eric Johnson '72, P'08
埃里克·约翰逊72年P ' 08年, founded Babson’s Black Student Union 50 years ago.

然后,它是越南和民主国家公约,暗杀马丁路德·王女士和罗伯特肯尼迪,以及肯特州和杰克逊国家枪击事件。现在,它是乔治弗洛伊德,布恩纳·泰勒和Ahmaud arbery;这是黑人生活和对种族司法的争夺;这是一个扰乱了我们所有生命的大流行病。

In a recent phone call with Jaylen Bell ’21, the current BSU president, Johnson recounted the similarities with his turbulent era.

“All those events made the campus highly political, and the students very, very engaged,” Johnson said. “There are similar elements in place now, so the need for a Black Student Union—a place of comfort and support—is just as important today as it was 50 years ago.”

1970年,在BSU的成立期间,Babson校园里只有12名黑人学生。beplay平台下载鉴于初始创始课程非常小,约翰逊和BSU与该地区其他大学校园的黑人学生合作。课程与我们强烈共鸣,因为BSU仍然努力将其延伸到Babson的校园之外,即使是这一天。beplay平台下载


“现在有类似的元素,因此需要一个黑人学生会 - 一个舒适和支持的地方 - 今天就像它一样重要,因为它在50年前。”
Eric Johnson '72,P'08,黑人学生联盟的创始人

在初期,约翰逊和他的同学的外联和决定投资令人叹为观止令人印象深刻的股息。今天,校园里有133名黑人学生,因为我们庆祝BSU的50周年。对于约翰逊来说,十倍的增长是对BSU持久成功的证明。

“随时你可以做一些变得可持续的事情,即本身就是对事业的真正致敬,”约翰逊说。但是,我看到这一点的主要是有很多毅力和很多保护黑人学生联盟所在的目的。“

Over the years, our organization has been directed by top-notch student leaders. In particular, a group of old-school alumni—who now refer to themselves as the “OGs”—helped grow the BSU from its founding through its formative years, including John Frazier ’71, Rudy Crew ’72, H’96, Gary Rawlins ’73, Rodney Carter ’76, Melvin “Chuckie” Clark ’76, Craig Thaxton ’76, Gerald Watson ’76, Gary Burke ’77, Chris Cephas ’77, Leslie Fleuranges ’79, Sherrin Stokes-Fowlkes ’79, Ulysses Grant Smith ’81, and Kevin White ’88.

One of the central figures was Dr. Geoffrey Kapenzi, a sociology professor, who mentored many of the BSU alumni into successful entrepreneurs and business and community leaders. Crew, for example, went on to become chancellor of the New York City Department of Education.

“Doc Kapenzi was the heart of our survival,” Carter said recently. “He gave us the standard of our interaction with each other.” Those interactions, he says, developed into creating their own peer-mentorship groups in their hometowns, such as Baltimore, New York, and Chicago.

“After graduation,” Carter said, “we attended and participated in each other’s weddings, became godparents, and cried at our peers’ Homegoing services.”

这就是黑人学生会意味着建造和培育它的校友。

约翰逊房子的居民
约翰逊屋外的居民,黑色学生联盟的新特殊利息住房。

A Vision for the Future

今天,BSU拥抱过去的所有教训 - 以强烈关注未来。我们很荣幸能够命名BSU后埃里克约翰逊的实际表现,不仅影响了Babson的校园,而且更大的波士顿社区。beplay平台下载

“这是一个tremendous tribute, and I almost can’t put it into words what it really means, other than to say that the students who are there today created this environment,” Johnson said. “They created it, and they created the purpose and strategy behind it. To me, that is the best honor.”


我们正试图在经济上建立一些经济的机会,同时庆祝来自非洲侨民的共同线程的唯一性。

在我们的Johnson House的研究和计划中,我们发现了median net worth of a Black household in Boston is just $8—yes, $8. The house was created with a mission to help create the solution to that problem, and we now meet regularly in the common room to tackle it. We are trying to build something economically with the opportunities presented to us while celebrating the uniqueness of coming from a common thread of the African diaspora.

BSU是一个学生组织,但我们希望它不仅仅是那样的。我们一直谈论未来,它正在振奋。我们谈谈未来的几十年,我们如何使这一刻有影响。我们讨论了我们现在可以做的事情,以确保那些在过去五十年中我们所做的建立的方式来建立追求的人 - 我们能够建立在过去五十年中我们的前辈创建的基础。

That’s what the Black Student Union means for the next 50 years.

发布了校园和社区

更多来自Babsonbeplay平台下载 Magazine»
Other Stories
在一个大天空下,企业家领导人侧重于他们的承诺
在一个大天空下,企业家领导人关注他们的承诺»
Babson Collaborative Students Provide New Life for Afghan Refugee
Babson Collaborative Students Provide New Life for Afghan Refugee »
beplay平台下载Babson将1号排名下来
beplay平台下载Babson在第1号排名下双打了帷幕»