Answering the call for attendance and for presentations, Black Student Union president Kayla Warner and 10 other Auburn students are traveling to College Station, Texas A&M, for the 2017 Southwestern Black Student Leadership Conference (SBSLC). The conference starts on January 19, 2017, and goes until January 22.
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During this conference, students will hear from speakers discussing and engaging in topics concerning black students’ experiences on campus. Started in 1989, the SBSLC was formed, according to its promotional video, to present a space where black students could discuss pertinent issues to the African American community (SBSLC). As well as a means of networking and “personal and professional development,” SBSLC works to promote black students by challenging them to make a positive impact on American society (SBSLC).
Overall, this conference presents a forum for black students to hear and be heard by other black students on other campuses in hopes of sharing information and mutual understanding—for its 29th anniversary, the SBSLC expects 650 participants, 60 presenters, and 43 workshops (SBSLC).
BSU President Kayla Warner will be presenting a topic that relates to her experience as BSU president and as a black student herself.
She plans to discuss a topic close to her heart: non-black allies in BSU and the presence and membership of non-black students at BSU meetings. With this talk, Warner hopes to inform other black students on predominantly white campuses that it is possible to find allyship in non-black classmates. For black students on campuses such as Auburn, being outnumbered by white students, and the small amount of safe spaces presents a daily anxiety. Warner will present a video of allies (including the author of this article) discussing their reasons for joining BSU and for being allies.
BSU’s pledge states that it “represent[s] the interest and concerns of Black Students at Auburn University and…bring[s] together all aspects of Black Student life for the purpose of improving the campus environment and encourage involvement of Black students in ALL campus activities…[and] [d]iscourage[s] and abate[s] institutional and individual acts and symbols of racism and promote the Auburn Spirit and tradition of Excellence and Heighten awareness and friendship between races” (BSU). Warner, in her experience as the president of BSU, has said that non-black students becoming allies have improved the ability of BSU to participate in conferences similar to those the SGA attends—and that having allies, in part, has allowed for her and the 10 other students to pay for and attend the SBSLC.
“Making relationships with people I vibe and mesh with and invite to BSU,” Warner says, “[I have] seen that pay off.”
Warner also said that having allies in situations like asking for funding to attend SBSLC, “…really made so much difference.”
The fight for equal rights demands not only those who are marginalized to make a statement, but also those non-black allies who can sometimes persuade more and have more ability to speak at all. Warner’s presentation and her and BSU’s push to gain more allies for black students will happen on Saturday, January 21.
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More information concerning the SBSLC can be found here: http://sbslc.tamu.edu/
For those interested in attending, BSU’s first meeting of the semester will be Monday, January 23 at 5 PM in Student Center room 2222/2223.