Temple’s campus has over 400 registered student organizations. Amongst these, there is a wide selection of Black and multicultural student-led clubs that create community and inspire creativity through their presence. Not only are they doing this while being a safe space for students, but through their initiatives and events, they are making a direct impact on both their members and the Philadelphia community.
Since there are so many organizations on campus, there may be some that you are unaware of. I know that regarding the clubs I’m in, I only found out about most of them through my own research, when I was looking to get more involved in my major, and connect with people based on my shared interests and culture.
Today, I will introduce six student organizations that work to build community and inspire creativity among Black Temple students.
Black Media and Entertainment Collective
The Black Media and Entertainment Collective (BMEC) is a community for Black creatives, whether they’re looking to pursue their art casually or professionally, that supports majors across the university. For their upcoming events, they are planning on hosting Public Relations professional Kymberlee Norsworthy at a general body meeting to speak about professional development. For their most recent meeting, they will be talking about burnout and imposter syndrome in Black creatives. Keep an eye out on their Instagram for the dates of these events!
For the future, the club is looking forward to hosting its second annual Grammy debate party, where it will discuss the Grammy nominees for the year and make predictions for who will win in each category. Last year, they took a trip to Drexel and participated in their Grammy watch party. They’re hoping to do the same this year.
BMEC’s president and founder Thalia Lash tells Her Campus that as a new organization, she’s grateful they can work closely with members so they can specifically curate events to what members are looking for. They’re looking forward to continuing to “grow and improve” as an organization this year!
The Association of Black Psychologists Temple Student Chapter
The Association of Black Psychologists Temple is part of a national organization called The Association of Black Psychologists. Temple’s student chapter was founded in 2018. They host many events on campus, such as yoga with Yoga4Philly, where a local nonprofit organization came to campus and guided outdoor yoga on the Mazur rooftop, teaching members about mindfulness through meditation. Other events included Pop the Balloon: Psychology Trivia Edition, Level Up: An ABPSI professional development experience, affirmative journaling, and a Vision Behavior Health Tech Visit.
The organization has also done numerous community service initiatives on campus, such as their Back-to-School Drive, where they partnered with More Than a Game Philly. This was their first community service event in which they gave back and connected with the Philly community through the transition back to school. They also had other initiatives, including the TU CleanUP event, the #ABpsiBGDO Initiative, and the National Association of Mental Illness Walk (NAMI Walk).
According to their president Camille Benjamin, it has been an amazing year so far to see the community that they’ve been fostering on campus through various events. “Being able to give back to the community around us, the Black community, and our organization is a joy that allows us to practice being leaders, being a resource, and being a fellow peer all at the same time,” Benjamin says. “Whether it be at our E-board meetings, at our club events, or at community service, we value having a Black community at a PWI and [that] makes the things we do even more sacred and necessary.”
Temple University Black Public Relations Society
The Temple University Black Public Relations Society (TUBPRS) is a career and professional development resource for students of color in the media and communication industries. One of their most recent initiatives was the Turkey Day Tailgate in FDR Park with Philly PR Girl. During this volunteer event, the organization connected with the Philly community and represented Temple’s Black student professional organizations in a larger community setting.
TUBPRS is also focused on bringing professionals from various industries—from creative (Mural Arts) to professional (Handshake)—to connect with Temple’s Black creatives and communications students. Additionally, they’ve been leveraging relationships with established brands that cater to Black audiences, like their Shea Moisture collaboration, which fosters creativity and gives students a platform to bring their campaign ideas to life through their campaign lab.
TUBPRS is building community and cultivating creativity through its interactive events, meetings, workshops, and other experiences focused on highlighting growth within the industry.
Student Organization for Caribbean Awareness at Temple
The Student Organization for Caribbean Awareness (SOCATU) is an organization that focuses on educating students on things going on in the Caribbean and creating a space to celebrate Caribbean culture. On Nov. 12, they will be having a career panel. On this panel, they’ll have professionals of Caribbean descent talk to the club about what it means to be in the workforce to inspire students with Caribbean backgrounds.
Through a mixture of engaging events for their members, such as their previous pumpkin painting and game night meetings, or their AUX Battles event with the Haitian Student Organization, they are also fostering community on campus.
They are giving back through community service initiatives such as the Back-to-School Supply Drive they hosted, where they partnered with Ignite Jamaica Fund to donate school supplies to primary schools in Jamaica.
Temple National Society of Black Engineers
The National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) hopes to spread opportunities within engineering to their members. According to their senator, Chinazo Amaefuna, they try their best to prepare students for entering the workforce and for career events such as career fairs. Their goals as a club are to improve engagement, collaborate with other organizations on campus, and share job opportunities through company panels and conventions.
One of these opportunities was their Society of Women Engineers (SWE) x Society of Asian Scientists (SASE) x NSBE Mixer and PECO Informational on Sept. 18. For this event, the organizations collaborated for a panel led by the NSBE president. At the panel, four PECO employees discussed the work they do, information about their company, and how interested students could get involved there. After, they had a Q&A. They concluded the event with “Engineering Jeopardy,” led by the SWE and SASE presidents, where students from each of the organizations competed to win prizes gifted by the PECO representatives.
Temple National Black Professional Health Association
Temple’s National Black Professional Health Association (NBPHA) was founded with the goal of creating a space for fellow rising Black healthcare professionals to connect and create a community with people pursuing the same aspirations and career as them. They meet every other Wednesday and offer a variety of community service and mentorship opportunities. They also host panel discussions where students can speak with professionals and grad students in the fields they’re interested in.
One of their recent volunteer opportunities that allowed them to make a direct impact in the community was their visit to the organization Cradles to Crayons Philadelphia. There, they helped to sort and pack clothes, shoes, and other essentials for students in need alongside students from Villanova.
They recently hosted a graduate student panel where they brought in students pursuing the next step in their education to converse with the organization’s undergraduate students. The students also had the opportunity to ask the grad students any questions they might have had.
Now that you are aware of these fantastic Black and multicultural student-led organizations on campus, I hope you will dive into learning more about them and getting involved!