Black Student Unions: A Legacy of Unity, Empowerment, and Change

Black Student Unions (BSUs) have been a vital force on college campuses across the United States. These organizations emerged from a need to unify, empower, and advocate for Black students, particularly within predominantly white institutions (PWIs). From their origins in the 1960s to their evolving roles today, BSUs have consistently championed cultural awareness, academic success, and social justice.

Genesis of the Black Student Union Movement

The first Black Student Union was founded in 1966 at San Francisco State University. The rise of the Black Campus Movement in the 1960s saw Black students advocating for reforms within academia. The Black Campus Movement was fueled by an intense sense of isolation Black students felt on PWCs. Prior to the establishment of official campus-specific BSUs, Black students found other ways to connect with each other and foster community on campus, allowing for an easy adoption of BSUs by Black students on PWCs. In 1966 the first BSUs were established, and the organization quickly spread across the country with 1,000 more by 1969.

Inspired by the Black Power movement, students demanded increased Black enrollment, Black faculty and staff representation, Black studies programs, and Black cultural centers. The creation of Black Student Unions allowed Black students to address more specific issues related to their institutions. James Garrett and Jerry Varnado, founders of the first BSU at San Francisco State, explained that they wanted to reflect the growing consciousness of Black identity. They also hoped to reclaim authority and empower members by claiming the term Black rather than continuing to use terms society had placed upon them in the past, such as negroes or colored.

Agyei Tyehimba argues that the difference between modern BSUs and preceding Black student organizations is that BSUs’ goal and purpose is taking political positions and action when necessary. Tyehimba defines the role of BSUs as needing to maintain the tradition of consciousness-raising, resistance, and Black empowerment and advocate for Black liberation, solidarity, and increased opportunities for Blacks on campus.

Mission and Objectives

The Black Student Unions mission is to first, unify Black people on San Francisco State's campus through cultural, political, social, and informational events. Second is to nationalize our organization and create a solidified communicative database with other Black Student Unions across the country. Third, to build leaders and empower them with knowledge and a methodology, so they can further progress our struggle for liberation through organizing, returning to their community and productively create historical centers that will teach our children their REAL history and by any other means necessary to produce and ensure the ends of justice health peace and freedom.

BSUs strive to unify Black students on college campuses. They also help to provide students with the knowledge and resources needed to combat racial hostility on campus. They also provide Black students with a supportive community.

BSUs address specific needs and concerns, including:

Unifying Black students: Creating a sense of community and belonging through cultural, political, social, and informational events.
Promoting Black identity: Reclaiming authority and empowering members by embracing the term "Black" and celebrating Black culture.
Advocating for Black liberation: Taking political positions and action when necessary to fight for Black students.
Increasing Black representation: Fighting for Black Studies departments, creating employment and political opportunities for Black professors, and granting proactive, politically minded Black students and intellectuals a platform.
Supporting academic success: Providing academic services such as tutoring, workshops, and other tools for academic development.
Combating racial discrimination: Addressing racial discrimination in the 1960s and 1970s and addressing political disenfranchisement on and off campus.
Addressing police brutality: Taking a more active role in speaking out against police brutality and bringing students together to protest for reforms on college campuses.

Early Forms of Black Student Organization

Prior to the establishment of official campus-specific BSUs, Black students found other ways to connect with each other and foster community on campus, allowing for an easy adoption of BSUs by Black students on PWCs. In 1906, seven male students at Cornell created Alpha Phi Alpha, the nation’s first African American intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternal organization and one of the first cases of Black student organization. Later, in 1908 at Howard University, eight female students formed Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first Black sorority. Other universities across the country had different forms of Black student organization as well.

The Black Campus Movement

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s brought about many changes in America, but one sector of American society that saw the greatest reform was higher education. While Black admissions and enrollment at predominantly White institutions had been possible since the 1800’s, racist practices ran rampant in higher education, creating unsafe, unwelcoming, and damaging environments for Black students and staff on predominantly White campuses. In conjunction with the rise of Black Power Movements across the nation in the 1960’s, Black students began to advocate for reforms within academia, launching the Black Campus Movement. Among some of the most popular demands made by members or groups affiliated with the Black Campus Movement were the establishment of Black cultural centers, increased Black student enrollment, an increase in Black representation among faculty and staff, and Black studies programs.

In the 1960s, the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 required a census of all postsecondary education institutions in the United States. The census identified students by race or ethnicity, revealing the low number of Black students attending predominantly white colleges and universities, and stated that federal funding would be withheld from educational institutions that did not meet the Act's equal opportunity requirements. The subsequent Higher Education Act of 1965 expanded the availability of financial aid to students seeking higher education, benefiting Black students more than any other group. Affirmative action programs at the campus level additionally increased Black enrollment at many colleges.

Read also: Funding for Black Students

Black Student Unions as Agents of Change

BSUs have served as practical sites of decolonization, resistance, and liberation in other ways around the country. A 1978 study conducted by the Martin Institute of Human Behavior asked Black student leaders from 13 campuses in the Midwest, West Coast, East Coast, and South to evaluate how successful their BSUs had been at having their demands met on PWCs. Out of the total 72 documented demands made by the 13 BSUs, 53 were met with some form of response and action from the university. While this is not perfect, it does indicate that BSUs were, overall, able to elicit institutional responses. Only a mere decade after their establishment, BSUs had already become an important advocate for Black students and had proved successful in reaching the goals they were created to achieve. Many of the issues BSUs raised had to do with Black enrollment, improved financial aid, Black studies programs, and supportive services, but one of the most popular demands by far was the demand for Black cultural facilities and activities. A similar study conducted by Frederick Smith at Loyola University in 2018 evaluated the most popular demands made by BSUs on PWCs. The study concluded that the demand for cultural centers on PWCs was one of the top three most sought after demands across the country.

BSUs were not alone in their fight to empower and create a sense of community for Black students; Black cultural centers (BCCs) also served as sites of decolonization, resistance, and liberation across the country. BCCs differed from BSUs because rather than a politically active organization, BCCs are physical areas which provide a “home away from home” for Black students. Another way in which BSUs and BCCs differ is that, while BCCs usually fulfill a social function like BSUs, they also provide academic services such as tutoring, workshops, and other tools for academic development. Furthermore, BCCs often host cross-cultural events and support cross-racial interactions. BCCs are established for the use and support of Black student populations, but in some cases events or programs offered at BCCs are open to other ethnic groups on campus in order to foster understanding and acceptance. Whereas participation and membership in a BSU is dependent on whether a student identifies as Black in order to strengthen and support Black student populations on PWCs, BCCs provide opportunities of understanding and community for students of any ethnicity.

The University of Washington BSU: A Case Study

The BSU led a militant struggle for minority rights at the University. The results transformed the University of Washington, benefiting not just African Americans but also Chicano, Asian American, and Native students. By the late 1960’s this was especially true for the younger Black generation who were not only frustrated with White America, but also with the leadership of the Civil Rights movement. Several Black UW students-who would later become the founding BSU members-heard Carmichael speak. In early 1968 when the BSU was founded, members like E. J. Brisker and Eddie Demming credited Stokely Carmichael for catalyzing their activism. Describing Carmichael’s impact, Eddie Demming said: “[Carmichael] had something we could identify with. He told us that things could no longer stay the same.” Thus, by the fall of 1967, the University of Washington had several politically conscious, motivated Black students.

A key turning point in BSU history came in November 1967 when a group of African-American students traveled by bus to Los Angeles, California, and attended a Black Youth Conference over Thanksgiving weekend. The primary mission of Black Student Unions was to serve black students’ needs on university campuses, to initiate community service projects, and organize BSUs in high schools and junior-highs. In the first weeks of UW’s 1968 winter quarter, the Afro-American Student Society and the Seattle chapter of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee merged to create the UW Black Student Union. Initially, the BSU hoped to work in cooperation with the University’s administration to implement change. However, the group noted, if cooperation with University officials proved fruitless, the BSU would take more direct action.

The BSU began to fight for minority rights by taking their concerns to the University Administration and drafting a letter to UW President Charles Odegaard. In this first letter, the BSU called for more black professors, counselors, and teaching assistants; classes in Afro-American History, Culture, and Literature; offerings of African language courses; and a university program for encouraging black students to graduate from college. Additionally, the BSU demanded positive steps be taken to eliminate racism in the athletic department, sorority and fraternity system, housing, and employment (both student and staff), and for the university to be a leader among Pacific Northwest colleges in initiating and sponsoring programs to improve conditions in the black community.

Read also: The Black List Internship

In the spring of 1968 a string of events motivated the BSU to take more aggressive actions. While sitting in jail Dixon, Gossett, Miller, and Flavors found out that Martin Luther King had been assassinated that same day, April 4, 1968. King’s death had a deep impact on the Black community in Seattle and across the country. That speech and the funeral of Bobby Hutton the following day touched the passions of the UW BSU members. Within two weeks of this second conference, many of the UW BSU members founded the Seattle chapter of the Black Panther Party, the first chapter outside of California.

Evolution of Black Student Unions

Currently, on many college campuses, Black student unions have moved from being an activist or political organization to more of a social organization. While activism may still be an important aspect of these organizations, their emphasis on creating and supporting peer culture and/or peer socialization has become more of a central focus.

With increased national publicity on the killings of Black and brown people over the last several years, racial injustice has become increasingly important to college students. Black student unions across the nation are taking a more active role in speaking out against police brutality.

Black Faculty and Staff Associations

While the importance of Black student organizations is regularly recognized and acknowledged, the importance of similar organizations for Black faculty and staff on PWCs is often overlooked. Founded in the 1980s, Black faculty and staff associations (BFSA) rose concomitantly as BSUs, but at a notably slower pace. Support from formal organizations and associations recognized by predominantly White institutions is important for Black faculty and staff in order to fight against institutionalized racism and advocate for equitable opportunities. Martell Teasley, a professor of social work, also acknowledges the need for a critical mass by stressing the importance of formal mentorship of junior professors and new faculty members organized as a means of BFSAs, increasing institutional success and retention.

By advocating for themselves and others through both formal and informal BFSAs, Black faculty and staff are able to promote decolonization, resistance, and liberation on PWCs and create happy, healthy work environments. Additionally, as a result of better working conditions and workplace satisfaction being increased by BFSAs, predominantly White institutions are able to recruit and retain more Black faculty and staff.

The Role of Black Student Unions Today

Black student unions strive to unify Black students on college campuses. They’ve also addressed police brutality and campus safety for students of color. Black student unions can continue to bring changes to higher education. These organizations were an important resource for student activism at predominately white institutions. Staff, faculty, and students would utilize these spaces for organizing, developing activist agendas, and combating racial discrimination.

Black student unions have also taken key roles off campus. They’ve organized food and clothing drives and other services within their local communities. For many Black and brown students, 2020 was an especially difficult year with the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. Many Black student unions strategized on how to raise awareness about police brutality. They also demanded more safety and protections for Black students on campus.

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