Towson University: Celebrating Black Student Excellence At TU

Press release from Towson University:

Cody Boteler '17, Japhet Chukwuma '24 & Kyle Hobstetter

February 20, 2022

Meet members of TU's black student organizations, and learn about what their organizations
and Black History Month means to them

Black History Month at Towson University is a chance to celebrate the past, present
and the future by talking with students who are currently living the Black experience
on campus.

Early this month, TU invited members of several Black student organizations to come
to the photo studio located on the second floor of the Administration Building.

As Photographic Services took portraits of almost a dozen students, the newsroom team
talked with them about many topics. Questions ranged from what it’s like to be Black
at Towson University; why they joined their organization; and what Black History Month
meant to them.

Helping with this project was Keiwana Perryman, associate director of student development
and diversity in the Center for Student Diversity. She works primarily with TU’s African
American Student Development Program, and was excited to watch as some of her students
had the opportunity to share their thoughts and experiences with the entire campus
community.  

"Our students are looking for platforms to share their thoughts their feelings, their
concerns, their joys and happiness. We don’t usually get to do that with the larger
campus community. We do that amongst ourselves," Perryman said. "But having the opportunity
to showcase what our culture and being black means to us on this campus, it makes
me feel really happy. It sounds cheesy, but it makes me feel proud that our students
are able to come together and articulate their thoughts."

Meet 10 students (and two staff members) who represent just some of our many black
student organizations on campus. 

“It’s important for me to be involved as a black woman on campus because black women
bring that special oomph that you need at all your organizations. It’s also important to have someone who
looks like me and within my age group showing other students that it’s possible to
get involved on campus."

Learn more about Ujima, the collective of Towson University's Black Student Organizations

“In Black History Month not only do I get to cherish things about my community but
I get to see other people indulge in and learn about things they typically don’t learn
about. There are a lot of things in history that go unheard of but I love diving into
that.”

Learn more about the Black Student Union, and follow them on Instagram. 

“Coming in here I was very shy and reserved. Stepping out and being part of National
Council of Negro Women has made me feel like I have a support system and that I can
be myself. It shaped me to be a leader and handle things in the proper way as a black
woman.”

Learn more about Towson's chapter of the National Council of Negro Women 

“It’s critical to have these black organizations because it offers support for the
black community year-round and it’s a place I can go and feel comfortable. It influences
how I perform in any aspect of my life.”

Learn more about the African Diaspora Club, and follow the group on Instagram

“Brotherhood is a space that we cultivate for young black men to truly, freely and
uniquely be themselves. It's not exclusively for black men though, because the only
way we get better as individuals is through the community.”

Learn more about Brotherhood, and follow the group on Instagram 

“I am entering a field where there's not many people that look like me, but the population
of students that I will be serving are going to look like me. It’s important that
I'm going into this setting using my background as a black woman to benefit them.”

Learn more about Towson University's African-American Student Development Program 

“I chose Towson University because it was very important to go somewhere where people
look like me. I remember my first time on campus taking a tour and seeing so many
people of color. Towson's diversity is amazing and that made me come here.”

Learn more about Bettering Black Minds, and follow the group on Instagram 

“I got involved with the NAACP because I’m invested in the advancement of all minority
groups. There’s a lot of engagement with the community of people with dilapidated
conditions and I wanted to be a part of organizations that gear towards that.”

Learn more about the Towson University Chapter of the NAACP 

“Black history month is important for everyone because we have to know the past to
be better in the future. It’s also a way to pay tribute to the Black-American pioneers
and realize the work that has been done but acknowledging that there's still more.”

Learn more about the Ethiopian-Eritrean Student Association, and follow them on Instagram

“Black history month means a lot because we can see our people prospering and thriving.
It’s an important time for the rest of the world to recognize that. I want to continue to photograph and promote black people as a community. I want to
help their voices be heard, that makes me happy.”

Follow Japhet and the rest of the TU Photo Team on their Instagram. 

“To me, Black History Month is a promise kept. I think that is the best way to sum
it up. I remember growing up, there was a paper placemat at a Hardees, and that Black
History Month placemat talked about Carter G. Woodson and why he created Black History
Month and why it was only a week when he first started.

For me that’s always stuck in my head, that picture of Carter G. Woodson, looking
out and forward, and to me that was his attempt to establish something for people
to carry forward, and to adapt and change as they knew their communities would need.
To me every time we celebrate Black History Month, there is a little bit of keeping
that promise."  

Learn more about the Center for Student Diversity 

"When you talk about minority, or marginalized students, a lot of times we operate
on this black and white dynamic. Although my area is under African-American Student
Development, that encompasses so many different cultures within that. Some of my students
are from Ghana, some from the West Indies, some are from right down the street in
Baltimore. So, to be able to highlight those differences, even within the culture,
so people don’t think that being Black is just a monolith experience."

Follow the Center for Student Diversity' Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

This press release was produced by Towson University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.