The History of the Black Student Alliance: A Timeline

This Archive Project details the formation of the Black Student Alliance (BSA). The Pleiad covers the BSA in various capacities, including columns titled the Black Rap. These columns, written by various Black students on Albion's campus, discuss the opinions of these students. Within my project, I have created a timeline which reveals how and when the BSA was formed. The timeline also includes descriptions of each article, and ends in 2023 to show that the BSA is still relevant even today.

This article was published on September 26, 1969 by Emmett Benjamin. It is titled "The Black Rap," and was the first of this column to be published. This is an Opinion piece and, according to the Editor's Note, is a column written by various Black students on Albion's campus. Another publication near the time of this article was May 10, 1968 when Albion's President Norris responded to requests made by Black students. After this article, many other Black Raps were published as well. This article discusses being Black in America, as well as patriotism.

I included this article in my Archive Project because this initial Black Rap publication was a historical first for the Pleiad. The Black Rap went on to be an influential column released by the publication for quite some time. Because this was the first edition of the column, it was necessary that it was included. Additionally, the Black Rap often comments on BSA and various ways that BSA and Black students have been treated on Albion's campus.

This article was written on February 8, 1985. Leslie Keros, staff writer, wrote the article which is titled "Budgets OK'd; increase in social tax proposed." This article is a Pleiad News article. This article was written sixteen years after the first Black Rap column was published. This article details the fact that after many years, the BSA was recognized as a club on Albion's campus. The article says that Student Senate recognized the BSA and the Psychology club at the same time, during a meeting the week prior to the article's publication.

I thought this article was important to be included in my project because it shows how long it took for the BSA to be recognized by Student Senate. Despite being formed in the 60's, the actual recognition of the club did not occur until 1985. This gap in time, in my opinion, details the lack of importance that Albion and Student Senate placed on the BSA as a club in general. If it had been more prioritized by the college and Student Senate, the BSA likely would have been recognized far earlier.

This article, titled "In past and present, BSA Seeks to Uplift Minority Voices," was written on March 24, 2023 by Killian Altayeb. Altayeb was a staff writer at the time of publication, and was a first-year student. This article is a Feature on the Black Student Alliance. Within the article, Altayeb details the beginning of the BSA in 1969. They continue to provide historical context about the formation of the group, before moving on to present-day.

Altayeb discusses 2023 senior Anthony Neal, former president of BSA, who said, “Black Student Alliance is a collective of individuals put on campus to create a safe space that meets the needs of minority students – most minority students being African American."

Throughout the rest of the article, Altayeb discusses various campus events that BSA puts on. They interview other members of the group and get various perspectives relating to diversity on campus. The discussion of diversity is how Altayeb ends the article.

This artifact was important to be included in my archive project because it is a present-day example of the BSA being used on campus. Most of my other artifact examples were near the time of the BSA being formed. I found it necessary to include something detailing how the group is still in existence today. The BSA still fighting for the inclusion of Black students on Albion's campus, even in 2023 when this article was published, which I find significant due to how long the BSA has been in existence.

Heidi Faramelli is a sophomore English major with a Communication Studies minor. She is from Angola, Indiana. She is a member of the Prentiss M. Brown Honors program, the volleyball team and is the Copy Editor for the Albion Pleiad. She was blessed to have grown up in a middle-class home, and she has attended predominantly white institutions. She knows she is privileged due to her race, and that groups such as the BSA were created because of predominantly white institutions not including diverse groups on campuses. She strives to stand up for others and, through her writing, inspire others to speak up for what is right.