Anna Harris POINT OF VIEW

Being black at HPU: a Q&A with BSU President Mikayla Smith

By Dihandra Williams

Black Student Union president Mikayla Smith runs a meeting following a racial incident on campus.

According to a national statistic, 12.3% of students are black at private colleges based on data collected in 2019. When you attend High Point University where the percentage of black people is less than 10, there’s a need for clubs like the Black Student Union.

On October 29, 1969, the Black Student Union was formed at Florida Technological University (now University of Central Florida). Because most of the students at FTU were white, black students felt the need to come together and create real change on their campus, similarly to High Point University.

HPU’s Black Student Union was founded in May of 2016.

Despite integration, civil rights gains and living in an era of diversity and multiculturalism, people still seek to find others like themselves as a means of establishing their identity.

This natural human tendency has led underrepresented High Point University students to appreciate their BSU now more than ever, but to some outsiders, there’s still confusion about the purpose of this club.

Because of this, I spoke with BSU’s president Mikayla Smith about her time running the club and the importance it serves on HPU’s campus.

During her time as president, the club has seen a massive increase in active members, has hosted the first Black Lives Matter march on campus and has been awarded “Event of the Year” by the Student Government Association for their panel titled, “Being Black at HPU.”

I sat down with Smith to hear more about her leadership role and her perspective as a black student on campus.

What made you want to take on the role as president of the Black Student Union?

So, I transferred to High Point University in January of 2020 as a second semester sophomore. I’m a pretty social person, so I wasn’t worried about making friends, but once I got here, the division within the black community was so evident you couldn’t ignore it.

My assumption was that since there’s not many of us, we would all at least be friendly towards each other and wave in passing, but I didn’t even see that. I think, in that moment, I knew that I could either accept the fact that the black students here don’t really engage with each other or try to do something about it.

What do you think was your biggest challenge when it came time to take on this role as president?

I think, at first, my biggest challenge was getting the community to trust me. As a transfer student, I didn’t know a whole lot about the environment here at HPU, so I had to learn it first before I could try to change it for the better.

Mikayla Smith takes charge at the annual HPU Involvement Fair telling students about BSU and its opportunities.

How would you best describe the Black Student Union to people who are not involved in the club?

People want to hate on BSU so bad because they think the purpose of the club is to exclude white students. That’s not the case and has never been the case.

The white students here don’t have to worry about not fitting in everywhere they go or being the only white face in a class. This university as a whole is designed for them. Because of this, BSU serves as a place where underrepresented students can just be.

Our club’s motto is “promoting cultural and political awareness through meaningful conversations and uplifting events.”

How can white students serve as allies to black students?

I would say to come out to meetings and come out to events.

During our meetings, we give students the opportunity to be vulnerable and express things like their needs and concerns. I think if white students were to come out to those meetings, they would learn so much about our black students and what they could do to support and help them.

Mikayla Smith holds up a Black Lives Matter flag before her and the rest of BSU march across campus at their BLM march event.

What would you say has been BSU’s most monumental event?

I think it’s tied between our Black Lives Matter march and the community town hall meeting that we had this semester; both in response to racial incidents on campus. It’s sad that we even have to do events like that, but to see the entire black community come out in support of things that are important to them is beyond empowering.

But last semester we were also recognized by the Student Government Association for our event titled, “Being Black at HPU,” which was really encouraging. It won “Event of the Year” and we hope to take that title again this year.

Finally, what does the future of The Black Student Union look like to you?

A building.

I hope that in the future BSU members will have so much more than just a room to themselves. With a building specifically dedicated to underrepresented students that can go there any time of the day and just be. Elon already has one. I think it’s time High Point gets ones as well.

I envision the building consisting of a bunch of rooms, each of them serving a different purpose. There would be a room for studying, maybe one for art and of course, one where we could be more social and party.

If you are interested in getting involved or learning more about HPU’s Black Student Union, please follow @highpointbsu on Instagram.

Dihandra Williams is a senior at High Point University majoring in Journalism. For contact inquiries, please email dwillia2@highpoint.edu.