{"id":7234,"date":"2022-05-02T09:48:12","date_gmt":"2022-05-02T13:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=7234"},"modified":"2025-06-28T21:03:16","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T01:03:16","slug":"black-student-union-presents-at-university-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2022\/05\/02\/black-student-union-presents-at-university-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Student Union Presents at University Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Kajuan Minter, mentored by Shirley Rush, presented to a captivated audience on University Day 2022. Flying solo, Minter spoke on behalf of UMPI\u2019s Black Student Union (BSU). \u201cThe first ever BSU was founded in 1966 at San Francisco State University,\u201d he said, opening his presentation. \u201cAfter that, they were started on other campuses across the nation.\u201d The University of Maine at Presque Isle\u2019s BSU started in 2017. Former UMPI student, Riana Teixeria, was instrumental in the establishment of a BSU on UMPI\u2019s campus. \u201cShe was an amazing, driven and passionate woman,\u201d Minter said of his former BSU President. \u201cWithout her, I don\u2019t think BSU would exist (at UMPI) because she was so outspoken. She really pushed for a lot of things culture-wise for Black people here. She was the start of that, her and Miss Shirley. We just try to keep it going for them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

For more information about how to join BSU, contact Kajuan (KJ) Minter at kajuan.minter@maine.edu.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0BSU\u2019s mission is to create a safe place for Black students on campus. \u201cA lot of us are coming from different environments and situations,\u201d Minter said. \u201cI\u2019m from Maryland and being here is a whole culture change. I\u2019m from the city, I\u2019m used to hearing sirens.\u201d Minter says the differences in culture for him and other members of the BSU can create a sense of discomfort and not belonging. \u201cThere\u2019re not many people like us,\u201d he said. \u201cYou don\u2019t know who to relate to. You don\u2019t know who to go to. You don\u2019t know your resources. It\u2019s like a complete fresh start. You got to learn people and people got to learn you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Now the president of the BSU himself, Minter spoke of the support that BSU provides students who might struggle with these concepts. \u201cBSU kind of gives that safe place,\u201d he said. \u201cYou know, \u2018Me and you are from the same area.\u2019 We can relate to each other. We understand.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0BSU also strives to promote a sense of belonging for Black students. \u201cBeing from the city, being comfortable,\u201d he said. \u201cYou feel like you belong there because you see people of your color. Out here, it\u2019s different.\u201d He believes that not only does BSU allow students to feel as if their voices are heard, but it creates a supportive environment. \u201cYour voice is important,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd people here will listen to it. You just have to use it. When I joined BSU, I learned that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Kajuan Minter, mentored by Shirley Rush, presented to a captivated audience on University Day 2022. Flying solo, Minter spoke on behalf of UMPI\u2019s Black Student Union (BSU). \u201cThe first ever BSU was founded in 1966 at San Francisco State University,\u201d he said, opening his presentation. \u201cAfter that, they were started on other campuses across the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","category-uncategorized","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/93"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7234"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8128,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7234\/revisions\/8128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}