Mackenzie Thomas
Staff Writer
In celebration and commemoration of Black History Month, the Black Student Alliance (BSA) will be hosting a week of activities, including workshops, tabeling and speakers. BSA works towards the goal of empowering and inspiring students to help create a legacy for future University of Wyoming students through events.
“We really hope that the entire University and Laramie community will come out and support these events to learn more about themselves and to learn about African American influence in the state of Wyoming and the country,” said Rachel Ratliff, the vice president of the Black Student Alliance.
The events will kick off today where BSA will be tabeling in the Wyoming Union with the American Heritage Center. A central space for students to gather, BSA said they hope to extend their outreach to students across the campus and the Laramie Community.
“The American Heritage Center put together a display for us with African American influencers across the state. This display will include the Black 14 as well as other influential members across Wyoming and around the University,” said Ratliff.
The African American influencers included in this display are intended to educate students of the African American legacy within UW and the entire state of Wyoming. The hopes of this display are also to inspire students to create their own legacy as they continue their education at the university and beyond.
Along with the display, BSA will be hosting Olympic Gold Medalist Michelle Carter tomorrow in the Union Ballroom at 7 p.m. Carter is a three time Olympian for the United States in shot put.
She will be doing a speech and a meet and greet to shine the light on her accomplishments as an African American Woman.
Carter won gold in shot put at the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016, which makes her the first woman to win shot put for Team USA in the history of the Olympics. Carter also participated in the Olympic Games in London, United Kingdom in 2012 and Beijing, China in 2008.
Most of the events hosted by BSA have an intended focus of highlighting achievements of African American Women across the country, specifically in the state of Wyoming. Thursday’s events will also feature women within the African American community.
On Thursday, there will be a legacy workshop with Brianna Williams, where she will talk about the legacy of African Americans and the legacy students can leave behind at UW. She will also be doing a yoga class on Friday in the Half Acre dance rooms.
“Personally, for me, I’m really excited for all of the events this week, but the Legacy Workshop will be the most important to me. However, the keynote with Michelle Carter will be awesome as well,” said Ratliff.
Overall, the Black Student Alliance is hosting this week in order to influence the students of the University and the surrounding Laramie community. Ratliff said the goal is to raise awareness of the accomplishments of African Americans and to highlight the importance of their culture.
“We are really hoping that our African American students will find a place where they can come and find a community to be apart of within the Black Student Alliance. The events are for everyone, we invite everyone, hoping that a community will show up,” said Ratliff.
The events hosted by the Black Student Alliance will run from today to Friday in various locations across UW campus.
