Black Student Union elects King, Briggs

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The Black Student Union elected two representatives Friday who will recruit and help retain minority students at CMU.

Oak Park senior James King became Mr. BSU and Detroit freshman Lauren Briggs was selected as Miss BSU.

“One of their main priorities is to monitor minority recruitment,”
said BSU President Stephen Messam, Florida senior. “It gives them the
title of BSU advocate.”

Briggs said her main responsibility will be going to local high schools and talking with students.

“We will go out and get minority students to come to CMU,” she said. “I will tell them about my experiences at Central.”

Briggs participated in a debate Tuesday between the candidates for
the position. She described her experiences on campus during her
introduction speech, including time spent with the Program Board,
Student Government Association, Diversity Committee and mentoring
programs.

Briggs said she also will work to keep minority students at Central.

“We need to do more things like the programs we have now to extend people’s comfort zones,” she said.

King said retention could improve if more minority students become involved in activities on campus.

“Once you get involved you can’t just walk away,” he said.

King said he thinks a lot of people do not hear about programs on
campus. He said telling people about events could  get them more
involved.

Diversity is important on campus because it allows all students to get the full experience of college, King said.

“It’s stepping out of your comfort zone and learning new things,” he said.

King said as a representative of the group he will be talking with students when they visit campus and enter as freshman.

“I will work to help them get oriented to the school,” he said.

About 100 votes were cast in the election of the representatives.

Messam said all of the candidates for Mr. and Miss BSU can be
involved in recruiting minority students and getting them involved
through BSU’s academic affairs committee.

He said BSU offered several programs for Homecoming week in addition
to the regularly planned events, including a basketball tournament,
movie night, financial speaker and the debate to determine the
representatives.

“The entire week was a success,” he said. “People are excited about BSU.”