The Black Student Union (BSU) is a new club on campus, founded primarily by President Karissa Martin, alongside Sponsor Karen Stokes.
Sunnyslope has a total population of 2,340 students, with 4.66% of this population being made up of “black” students, and another 4.4% of the student population identifying as “two or more races,” according to Title One Coordinator Nicole Calandra.
The overall purpose of the Black Student Union is to “provide a safe space for the minorities at Slope,” said Secretary Aniyah Martin.
The founders saw the need for a space where students could connect, learn, and collaborate in order to foster a stronger, more educated student body.
Karissa said “I feel like being at a predominantly white school, it’s hard to find people that you can connect with easily and so for me, when I found Niy [Aniyah] and them, I felt extremely close and like I was able to connect with them… I felt safer. So I wanted to make a community like that for everyone.”
Sunnyslope is now the second school in the Glendale Union High School District with a Black Student Union, following Independence High School.
Independence established their BSU over five years ago, and it serves as a sort of blueprint.
“We just borrowed theirs [Constitution], and then we adapted it to Slope,” said Stokes.
At the moment, officers are primarily focusing on building a solid community.
In upcoming meetings, they plan to “Bond with each other with funny games and get to know each other and understand each other more,” said Karissa.
As they build a firm foundation, the club will expand into volunteer work as well.
“We want to become pretty close to one another and then later in the year, we want to do community service,” said Vice President Zhai Fort.
In addition to creating fellowship among Sunnyslope’s black population, the BSU intends to educate students of all races.
Karissa said “We are making sure we’re learning more history. Instead of always learning about slavery, we’re going to be learning about black excellence, because that’s something that is not talked about as much in school. So we’ll be teaching that a lot during the club.”
While the main goal is to create a space for black students, it is also important for students of all backgrounds to be involved in supporting and better understanding their peers.
Aniyah said “I hope it becomes a bigger thing, where more people want to come and are curious about learning about black history… I want everyone to be able to come and want to learn, not just the black population” and Stokes said “We do have students of different backgrounds, and I want everyone to have a sense of community and helping each other.”
At their first meeting, they had over 20 people, according to Aniyah.
Over time, leaders hope to see the number of attendees increase.
“How many times do you get to walk into a room and the majority of people look like you? Take advantage of it,” said Fort.
To make this safe space a reality, Fort, Karissa, and Aniyah collaborated with Stokes.
Not only is Stokes Karissa’s mother, but she has vast experience in such a role, making her an ideal leader.
“I’ve been a sponsor of BSU at Tempe High for 14 years,” said Stokes.
Stokes and each of these girls played a role in efficiently starting the club, and, of course, they couldn’t have done it without the help of “other people that want to step up and do more things… like some type of leadership role,” said Stokes.
The official officers for the Black Student Union are: President-Karissa, Vice President-Fort, Secretary-Aniyah and Brielle Saucedo, Treasurer-Ava Hylton, Social Media Manager-Jazz Pettis, Historian-Chase Stephens, Social Chair-Amara Burroughs.