It is no secret that Goshen College has a lack of professors of color. In fact, did you know that as of right now there are only two full-time professors on campus that identify as Black? Yet, when you look at the Career Networks page for the school, the image they use is of a classroom filled with Black men. One is a Black male teacher, something that GC doesn’t even have. Of course we have Black staffers here, one even is a close family member of mine, but I can count on my hand how many Black staffers we have at GC. And while the student population of Black students is increasing year to year, looking vastly different than it did whilst I was in my freshman year, as a junior walking into new roles on campus these hard truths have become a battleground for my work as a student advocate and activist. 

Something you all know, because it quickly has become one of my favorite roles on campus, is that I work as the current president of the Black Student Union. I began as just a normal leader in 2023 under the BSU president at the time, Jakyra Green. Here is where I met Lawrence Giden for the first time, the BSU advisor at the time. Before Giden was Dr. LaKendra Hardware, the first advisor the BSU ever had. With her help the first leadership team was able to start building something that they could pass down for generations. 

Giden was crucial in helping me lead BSU, especially when my entire leadership team was busy taking their semester student teaching. This left me without any of the proper training to lead BSU, but my ambition did not stop me. I tried my best to work with what I knew. However, the process of planning an event was new to me. Luckily, I got the hang of it the longer I was in leadership. I thank the other leaders alongside Giden for the help. 

The next year, in 2024, unexpected events led to Giden stepping down from the leadership team and we had to find a new advisor. Then Aja Ellington came in, a new hire that before even stepping foot into the college world was tied with a plethora of jobs. One of those included being the new BSU advisor. But as all good things start they also come swinging down. Ellington left right at the beginning of this school year. 

While I had spent a majority of my summer planning on events, connecting with and finding outside funding, and updating and planning promotional materials, suddenly the Black Student Union was left abandoned. For a club to function at GC, you have to have an advisor. The college did try to acknowledge the lack of leadership within the club. They then followed up with the same steps they used the last time: hire a new Black staffer and then assign them BSU. This does not solve the issue at heart at all, the issue lies in Goshen College overloading their Black staffers and giving them work that they never signed up for. 

This leaves clubs like the BSU without support and no means to run. The entire first chunk of last semester was spent with friends, leadership and myself having to fund the club out of pocket. Like mentioned before, if you have no advisor or someone to oversee the club for the college you have no access to money given or provided. Fortunately, Tyra Carver, head women’s basketball coach, stepped into the role as official BSU advisor and this semester is off to a better start.

The Black Student Union is one of the leading affinity groups on campus. Yet, with the lack of Black staff and professors, having to look for an advisor pushes us down. It is a harsh and repetitive cycle that continues to bring the club down every year. Our second semester is always better because we finally have the access to run like other clubs. If every single year the college continues to lose Black employees, then attempts to hire one to “fix”their lack of diversity hires, they hurt their Black student population. 

This repetitive process makes it harder and harder for students like myself that just want to be able to make Goshen College a home for ourselves. Problems cannot be solved with temporary fixes, the college needs to do a full evaluation within itself to identify the root causes of its issues. As a solution, hire diverse staffing every year without limiting it to one and without overloading them and pushing off meaningful communities that need support.