POINT PARK UNIVERSITY BLACK STUDENT UNION STUDENTS with Point Park president Donald Green, far left, and Pittsburgh Black Media Federation President Brian Cook Sr., far right. (Photos by Rob Taylor Jr.)
Annual ‘Blackout’ event at Point Park featured performances, fellowship, and words of encouragement from veteran journalist Brian Cook Sr.
Fifty-six years ago and nearly 2,600 miles to the west of Pittsburgh, the first “Black Student Union” was formed at a Predominantly-White Institution.
San Francisco State University was where Jimmy Garrett and Jerry Varnado conceived the idea of a group of Black students who would fight for civil rights and unify the college’s Black students through cultural, political and social events. Sure, there were other Black groups that had formed on the campuses of PWIs before 1966, including Black Greek organizations, but the term “Black Student Union” was first used at San Francisco State.
Nowadays, you almost can’t find a college that doesn’t have an official Black Student Union.
COVID-19, however, has tried its best to halt a lot of the social interactions between college students. It’s caused a disruption in some in-person events that had been scheduled over the past two years for Black Student Unions such as the entity that stands at Point Park University, Downtown.
But Savannah Sawyer, the president of Point Park’s Black Student Union, told the New Pittsburgh Courier that she was determined to hold the organization’s “Blackout Banquet,” in celebration of Black History Month. The two hour event was held on campus, Feb. 24, and featured about 30 mostly-Black students who were entertained with musical performances and a guest speaker, Brian Cook Sr., the president of the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation.
AMIRA JOHNSON does a poetry reading during the Point Park University Black Student Union “Blackout,” Feb. 24. (Photo by Rob Taylor Jr.)
“We’re a community for Black students,” said Savannah Sawyer, a Point Park senior and the BSU president, in an interview with the New Pittsburgh Courier, Feb. 24. “Other students that are coming in here, they need to know that Point Park does have a Black Student Union.”
“College can be very overwhelming,” expressed Kanou Fotie, who joined Point Park’s Black Student Union while playing on the school’s soccer team. He graduated in 2020, but still supports the BSU. “When I personally came to college, (the BSU) gave me a platform to meet with other people and have my first friend group without having to go too far away…I have seen some friends come in and struggle to build a (support) circle, so it’s important to have people that have the same background as you.”
Sawyer, who’s graduating in April, said there are about 45 active members of Point Park’s Black Student Union. Point Park, as of Fall 2020, had roughly 420 undergraduate students identify as African American, or 12 percent of the university’s 3,505 undergraduate students.
Sawyer said as a sophomore two years ago, it “felt great to be around people that are like me,” prompting her to join the BSU and become the eventual president.
Black Student Unions can be found at area colleges like Clarion University, Waynesburg University, Duquesne University, the University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg, Robert Morris University and Chatham University.
Chatham’s BSU penned an open letter to school administration in August 2020 demanding that Chatham become a safer, healthier and more productive environment for Black students and other people of color. The school’s BSU, as a result, now meets regularly with campus administration, according to “Pulse@Chatham,” a university website.
Some colleges may not have a “Black Student Union,” but a “Black Action Society,” such as the University of Pittsburgh and Slippery Rock University. At Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a “Black Student League” reigns supreme.
ZION CLIFF, BRIAN COOK SR., SAVANNAH SAWYER
Cook, the featured speaker for Point Park’s BSU event, stressed to the students that “persistence works,” as the 1998 Central Catholic graduate navigated Clarion University, earned a degree, and then was hired at Sheridan Broadcasting/American Urban Radio Networks, where his news reports were heard nationwide. Cook told the students he had to pinch himself when he was asked to report and provide photography for Super Bowl XL (40) in Detroit in 2005. It just so happened that his hometown team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, were one of the participants. The Steelers defeated the Seattle Seahawks, 21-10.
But Cook warned the students that not everything in their professional lives will be peachy. “There’s going to be some rough days ahead,” he said, “but you’ll be able to grow.”
POINT PARK UNIVERSITY BLACK STUDENT UNION STUDENTS with Point Park president Donald Green, far left, and Pittsburgh Black Media Federation President Brian Cook Sr., far right. (Photos by Rob Taylor Jr.)
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