New BSU club sponsors soul food luncheon

On Friday 7th was the First Annual Black Student Union soul food luncheon fundraiser at Sanford School brought together by a group of teenagers.

The Black Student Union, which was once called the Diversity Club, comes together about twice a week to share experiences, discuss everyday issues and analyze what it means to be Black.

Administrative Assistant to the Head of Upper School and BSU leader Carlene Spencer said that the luncheon was a fundraiser in order to raise the money “to offset the cost of our Washington D.C trip” which is the last week of February.

Spencer said that the amount of diversity at Sanford could be better.

“My son struggled a little bit with the lack of having a presence of some who can better relate to him, but I feel like Sanford does a good job trying to make everyone feel included,” said Spencer.

When Spencer was in school she said that there was not a good amount of diversity in the wealthy part of Montgomery County in Maryland where she went to school.

Student President of the BSU Club Nia Naylor said that in the time of her being in the club that she learned about “code switching, which is basically the way you talk,” switching the way you pronounce and detail your words.

Naylor uses the word “Empowering” when describing the feeling of being in the BSU Club “because it’s a sense of community and somewhere everyone feels that they can use their voices and feel heard with people that may feel the same as you do.”

The BSU Club ended up making $1950 to help the kids go on their trip to Washington D.C later this month. According to Carter Ruby, after the success of the first annual soul food lunch don’t be surprised to see another one down the road.