‘Love is Love’ takes center stage

The Black Student Union (BSU) held its biweekly executive board meeting on Thursday, September 13, 2018 in the Bultman Student Center. Their second General meeting, entitled “Love is Love is Love,” will be held on Thursday, September 23, in the Bultman Student Center. It will focus on love and relationships on Hope’s campus.

This is inclusive: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, ally and pansexual. All Hope students are welcome to attend and hear some personal experiences and stories of love and relationships. The meeting will focus on small group discussion and fun icebreakers. BSU also plans on having its annual service project, with several options for service. These include the Maple Avenue After School Program, which focuses on keeping kids thinking outside of the classroom. Also Upward Bound, a tutoring organization that helps Holland-area high school students with their homework.

They are also thinking about donating monthly to Holland Rescue Mission, volunteering at a local nursing home or children’s hospital, and bringing in more clean water to assist the continuing Flint Water Crisis. They also support the Black Lives Matter movement and the the Trans Women of Color Collective and the Community Action House. BSU aims to cultivate community service as part of its goal to promote more inclusion. BSU is also planning its annual Black Excellence Dinner, which will be held on October 19. This dinner honors black students that succeed inside and outside of the classroom, in aspects such as community service, service projects, etc. Black Lives Matter activist Deray McKesson also expressed interest in coming to campus as part of a collaborative effort with several students organizations.

BSU is in the process of designing its new t-shirt for the 2018-2019 school year, so stay tuned! They also hope to cooperate extensively with the African Society, an organization that allows students of African descent to be in an inclusive community. The hope is that in the future, BSU and the African Society will unite and bring more inclusion and acceptance onto Hope’s campus. BSU is uniting with the other multicultural student organizations (MSO). The only way for things to change is if students get more involved. If you have any questions, contact BSU at bsu@hope.edu and The African Society at africansociety@hope.edu. Join BSU and its cause.