When entering a school with thousands of students, it’s common to feel overwhelmed or isolated. It can be important to find a community where one feels safe, comfortable, and supported. This is the experience described by Ms. Williams, sponsor of Lane’s Black Student Association (BSA) along with many members of BSA.
According to senior Trinity Vernonpye, BSA offers a multitude of beneficial resources to students especially in education. “I personally was able to decide what college I want to go to because of the resources the club had for me,” Vernonpye said. Resources included scholarships, programs, internships, and financial opportunities for BSA’s annual Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) field trip.
While BSA has events like the pumpkin carving contest and the Taste of Africa, the club offers more than just that. “Part of BSA is not just hanging out,” Williams said. “We are all about uplifting the community.”
During Black History Month, BSA held two events that allowed for important discussions.
One event held was the Black Alumni Panel Discussion. Senior and secretary of BSA Duane Bright said the Black Alumni Association donates to BSA every year and also helps fund the annual HBCU trip. Bright said the trip also helped him figure out what college he would like to attend. The professional panel consisted of Lane alumni who grew to be CEOs, company owners, doctors, and therapists. Some alumni members were millionaires. Williams said it is important for BSA’s current members to hear from people who experienced the same things as them, walked the same halls, and eventually grew up to be successful, motivating them to understand that they can become successful too.
The club held another event with Lane’s Black alumni called “Empowering Minds,” the event focused on mental health in the Black community. Bright said this event stuck out to him because mental health is not often discussed in the Black community, and he expressed his gratitude with the event’s turnout. Williams said that even though the panel had alumni from Lane’s class of ‘77, students were still able to relate their experiences to the panel members.
Members of BSA said that they felt they’d found a family after joining BSA.
“It’s all about family,” Williams said. “We as a school, Lane Tech, we are the Champions, we are a family, but because it’s so big we do need those areas where we can be supportive to each other.”
Williams said the importance of this space is directly related to Black students making up such a small percentage of students. “There’s only 7% Black students in the building. Some students are in classes where it’s just them. So, I wanted to create a space they can come to and feel it’s theirs,” Williams said.
Senior Yasir Beloch said when he joined BSA he found people who grew up in ways similar to him, which helped him understand himself more as a person. “It helped me evolve and respond to everything differently, because I’ve seen how other people feel exactly how I feel, and I’m not alone.”
Bright described a similar experience. Bright said as a freshman, he felt as if he was still “committing” to Lane Tech, but upon joining BSA sophomore year, he made plenty of friends. Bright said, “I’d enjoy being safe because I was afraid of actually being around more people more often.”
The experiences of these students shape the reason Williams believes BSA to be so important. “When they leave this building, when they cross that stage, they’ll know they were loved here, every experience they had, every tear, every laugh, we were around to support them,” Williams said.
