BSAU to become official club

by Steffi Puerto

Serena Smith is a senior cross country runner and kinesiology major in pre-physical therapy at Cal Poly Humboldt and is working to bring back the Black Student Athletics Union, a student-led club.

This community building effort comes after the athletic department tried to start a similar club in 2020.

“It wasn't very organic, it was more like the coaches are here, they have to do this so they threw us in and then it fell apart,” Smith said.

After the death of George Floyd and the height of #blacklivesmatter movement, the coaches created the BSAU in order to create conversations between coaches and Black athletes about the ongoing issues that were occuring in the country.

CPH Cross Country coach Jamie Harris said “We started meeting, informally over zoom meetings trying to connect with some of the community resources and just give Black student athletes a space and voice.”

Smith explains that the club didn't work out initially because the coaches couldn't relate to the conversations and experiences of being a Black athlete on campus. This is what led Smith to leading BSAU with a student focus, creating a space that empowers and caters to the needs of Black student athletes at CPH.

“It was hard because a lot of Black student athletes don’t have a safe space that they can come to talk to. We don't have a community,” Smith said. “Our purpose of the BSAU is to create a safe space for Black student athletes.”

The BSAU focuses on three objectives: Educate, Embody and Connect. These objectives address empowering and connecting with the next generation of Black student athletes and setting them up for success. Black students make up 3% of CPH enrollment as of fall 2022.

Douglas Smith, the coordinator of the Umoja Center for Pan African Student Excellence, has been a prominent supporter for the club. He provides the Umoja center as a meeting ground for the club and has created comradery with the club members and president.

“If we are going to have Black student athletes on our campus, they’re going beyond being a commodity for the athletic department and athletes on our campus to help provide authentic support," said Douglas Smith. “So I think it’s important not just to have the Umoja Center but diverse spaces for Black students to engage in.”

Serena Smith is graduating this spring 2023 but plans to stay around to help get the club running. Smith envisions hiring a diversity officer in the athletic department to offer guidance and support to the needs of athletes of color, creating a green book that has the information of Black professors, spaces and resources across campus for students to utilize. Smith’s main goal is to share their experiences of being a Black student athlete, helping bridge resources and connections to let them know that there is community here for them.

Delana Montes, is a sophomore in track and field who will be the BSAU president in fall 2023, explained, “I want people to come here and be able to have a good time. Instead of thinking that ‘oh, it’s going to never change’.”

“It can change but it’s not going to change unless we try,” Montes said.

The BSAU will become an official club in fall 2023. For now, they have been hosting unofficial club meetings every Sunday in Nelson Hall East at the Umoja Center.