BSA Vice President Keilyn Broussard listens to comparative cultures and politics senior Talyce Murray at a BSA Community Forum on Oct. 22, 2019 at Akers Hall.
The Black Student Alliance, or BSA, is an organization on campus that provides a voice for African American students. They seek to redefine the experience for African American students at MSU through collective advocacy, continual support and results-driven action, according to their mission purpose.
Sharron Reed-Davis, the current president of BSA, joined the organization because she wanted to feel comfortable on campus and work with other students who looked like her. She said that true diversity isn't having a lot of different people on campus with each community of their own, instead, true diversity is when communities come together to tackle the same issues.
"My hope is to bring education and awareness of these topics and get the majority of the university in on the diversity planning that we do as CORES and COPS," Reed-Davis said.
Jazmyn Bradford, the mentorship liaison of BSA, said she finds problems regarding diversity on campus when it comes to MSU administration. She said that MSU promotes diversity and inclusion on campus, but to her, the administration leaves efforts for actual diversity to students.
"We would like to have more conversations to see what actions can be taken by administration and ... developing those relationships and encouraging other students to do the same," Bradford said.
This academic year, BSA promoted a 10 point plan for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, which was discussed with MSU President Samuel L. Stanley Jr. Currently, BSA is helping African American students navigate flat rate tuition, as well as preparing for the Black Empowerment Festival on Feb. 8.
"At this time, we're actually looking into different ways to have more bonding events for our members and as well as all of our community," Bradford said.
Black Student Alliance MSU took stage to protest flat-rate tuition at MSU during Spartan Remix, 2019. BSA president Sharron Reed-Davis sat down with The State News to talk about their protest. Produced by: Peter Hulett
BSA was founded in 1967 in the basement of Dr. Robert L. Green's home around the time that student protests began regarding racism on MSU's campus, according to MSU BSA's website. From that point on, BSA has existed to support African American students at MSU.
"BSA is the black student connection to administration and the only reason we are on this campus is to serve black students," Reed-Davis said. "So we just want black students to be able to have the same type of experience that a white student would have on campus."
