Prom is something that many high school students look forward to. Many wait until their junior or senior year before they are even able to attend. However, the college freshman and sophomore classes didn’t get a chance to experience their high school prom due to the pandemic.
The Black Student Alliance, or BSA, recognized this and wanted to give those students an opportunity to show off their dresses and suits and dance the night away. This past Sunday, BSA hosted its first annual Chocolate R.O.S.E Ball.
Not only did students come dressed in their prom attire but the Chocolate R.O.S.E court was revealed at the dance. The court of the R.O.S.E stands for Royalty of Societies Ebonics. When choosing the court, BSA was looking for candidates who would be the voice of the Black community at MSU.
Psychology junior Ajhane' Kindle and biological science education sophomore Daveeda Fitih Turner were crowned Queen and Monarch while prenursing freshman Jenessa Ediagbonya and communications junior Christian Parker were crowned princess and prince of the R.O.S.E. Court.
“The way I use my Black tongue was very powerful and I just wanted to be able to spread that across campus,” Kindle said.
Kindle and Fitih Turner both received a $150 scholarship in addition to their title. Kindle, who is a mentor for the Adolescent Diversion Program at MSU, plans to use the money to help further support her mentee. Fitih Turner will use the scholarship for books and supplies that will help with her studies.
Kindle was very surprised that she received the highest honor. She said she didn’t realize the impact she and Fitih Turner would have on campus.
“I don’t think I actually understood how important the positions that me and Daveeda received were,” Kindle said. “This is a continuous thing until the end of the semester. We are going to be the spokes(people) for the Black community on campus.”
Campus Representative for BSA Marcus McDaniel said that BSA expects the court to collaborate with BSA to change Black MSU socially and academically for the better.
“Whenever we’re doing in major protesting or major events, these are the people that represent the greater Black MSU — that's not just (members of) BSA,” he said.
“I didn’t realize how deep of a role it was … but as we learned more about it, I started becoming more excited about the fact that I have this role to play,” Fitih Turner said. “It’s always nice to be able to play these big roles where you can reach out to a lot of different people and help a lot of different people out with different things.”
Ediagbonya said she is very optimistic that she will make a change on campus throughout the next three years she has left.
”I want to be more involved in BSA with my years to follow,” Ediagbonya said. “I may want to apply on their Eboard next year.”
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