By Marisa Young | Staff Writer
The Black Student Union brought the countryside to campus with their “Trail Ride” themed cookout Friday night on Fountain Mall.
BSU’s cookout is an annual social event open to all students, and in accordance with this year’s theme, it featured line dancing, yard games and country music. Corpus Christi junior and BSU Community Involvement Chair Tyli Emanuel said the BSU members hope to draw students in with a theme that is both fun and relevant.
“It’s the BSU’s first huge event back on campus, so this is really the first event freshmen see of us,” Emanuel said. “The boots, the music, the food — we chose it as our theme because right now, it’s very popular in Black culture.”
While the cookout tradition exists primarily as a social event, it also functions to fulfill the BSU’s mission, which includes improving relations between all students, according to the Multicultural Affairs website.
“In the BSU, I think our job is to show incoming freshmen and existing students that they have a place here on campus, and it doesn’t necessarily have to feel uncomfortable,” Emanuel said. “Our place on campus is to promote unity and friendship.”
In accordance with their mission of campus-wide unity, the BSU hosted the cookout alongside the African Student Association and the National Panhellenic Conference.
“This event brings other Black organizations into collaboration, and it helps incoming freshmen see what other Black organizations we have at Baylor,” Emanuel said.
Houston senior and BSU Event Coordinator Nadia Chi said she joined the BSU in order to find “a sense of community.”
“I felt like there was a lack of events that were catered to Black students here on campus,” Chi said. “So when I joined the executive team, my goal was to push more events out … so people would know that there’s people here for them, and to show students the resources that Baylor has on campus.”
In addition to social events such as the cookout, Chi said the BSU provides other resources for students year-round.
“We have professional events coming up later into the school year, like our career fair prep,” Chi said. “We also do events that talk on mental health and perform check-ins, to make sure you’re doing well academically, socially and spiritually.”
Chi said she hopes students leave the cookout feeling supported and welcomed by both the BSU and the Baylor community at large.
“I want them to feel like they have a family here,” Chi said.
