Amiya Pillow, senior and president of Black Student Union at Eastern Michigan University, shared her journey about discovering the organization, becoming president this year, and upcoming events for Black History Month.
Pillow, from Detroit, plans to graduate at the end of this semester with a degree in media studies and journalism. During her time at Eastern Michigan University she was a sisterhood scholar, which is a program for minorities. She climbed the ladder to being top dog of one of the first student organizations she joined, the Black Student Union. She said she loves taking on this type of leadership role because she is never bored and knows there’s always something that can be done.
As Pillow graduates this year, she hopes that the union will continue to flourish, in part because she found it in a resurrection state. She said she is excited to see what is in store for the union after handing her presidency to another member and would even plan to come back to help the new executive board with events.
Q: Why did you join the Black Student Union and what made you join?
A: I joined BSU during my sophomore year in 2022-23. That was the first year BSU came back on campus. I joined because many of my resident assistants and dorm members were on the executive board. I liked all the events they had for Black Welcome Week, so that’s when I realized I wanted to join. I started going to the meetings, getting connected, and asking members what they needed help with.
Q: You mentioned you joined the Black Student Union when they came on campus, why were they gone?
A: BSU wasn’t suspended, but after COVID-19 a lot of people in the organization had all graduated. There weren't many people on campus who knew about BSU. Specifically, a guy named Alfred, a resident assistant in my program, gathered five to six people who he felt would be a great fit on the executive board. He spent the whole summer talking to those people about what BSU was, why he wanted to bring it back on campus after COVID-19 and working with them the entire summer. After that summer, BSU started having events on campus and fall 2022 was the first time it was back on campus after COVID-19.
Q: How many events does the union have planned for Black History Month?
A: The first one we’re doing is spades night with the National Pan-Hellenic Council, at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 3. Spades is a very popular game in the Black community. Some people know how to play it, and some don’t. We’re teaching people how to play spades and playing card games all night. Following the spades night, we have the Detroit tour on Feb. 7, with Campus Life and CORE. We’re going to tour the Motown Museum, a previous coffee shop during the '67 riots that is now a restaurant, and more. In collaboration with the Black Honors Student Organization, we’re hosting an event called Breaking the Barrier where we have a healthy conversation with police officers while watching The Hate U Give. After that, we have Bae Goals on Wednesday, Feb. 12, we’ll be talking about healthy relationships, love, and trivia.
Then finally we’ll have our 10th annual Unity Ball on Feb. 21 to conclude the month and unite everybody for Black History Month. I’m excited about February, and I hope we have a big turnout at the events. All information regarding each event is on BSU’s Instagram page @emu_bsu.
Q: Which event are you the most excited about?
A: I think I’m the most excited about the Unity Ball. We’ve been planning it since summer, and working hard behind the scenes to get all the funds so it could be a grand ball. I’m happy to see what every week brings because it’s something different each time
Q: Which event do you think will be the most impactful and encourage students to attend?
A: I feel like the Breaking the Barriers event along with the Black Honors Student Organization and the NAACP will be a big and nice event because we've never done or seen anything like that. At least for me, I haven’t seen anything like that before on campus, but I think it’s important to hold space for hard conversations with local police officers and for them to be respectful and genuine. With this event, people can learn from the discussions and apply to their real-life experiences. Everything for Black History Month from every organization is going to be nice and we can keep the Black excellence going all month.
Q: Are the union's Black History Month events excluded to Black people?
A: No, it’s not only just Black people. Everyone can come, even the Unity Ball because that’s the whole point of it where everyone on campus can come together. We personally invite all the student organizations to come out. We don’t want it to just be Black people because that’s who we see all the time. We want everybody united and for everyone to have a good time. The Unity Ball is the last day before spring break, so you might as well have a nice time then go on break.
Q: What was the journey like of becoming president of the Black Student Union?
A: I started as a general body member when BSU came back, I became treasurer my junior year, and then president this year as a senior. It was never my set goal to become president, but it wasn’t something too farfetched either. I knew I wanted to be a part of the executive board somehow, that’s why I became treasurer first. I was treasurer in high school for another organization I was in, so I had experience with it. This past year, my junior year, BSU’s executive board was going through a situation where we didn’t have all the people we were supposed to have. That allowed me to take the lead and envision what I wanted for BSU and what we could improve on. Then, once the executive board saw that I was stepping up, they said maybe you should run for president. And so, I did that. I was going up against someone else for president and at the last minute I said I don’t think I’m going to do it anymore; I’ll just be vice president because my opponent was a good candidate. The president at the time told me no, you need to be president; don’t let your opponent discourage you just try. That’s when I won the election. I already felt like I was in that leadership role because I planned events and showed up for everything. So that’s when I thought I’d be capable of being president. The race was close because there weren’t that many people in attendance. There were probably 10 people who voted. My opponent ended up being vice president, but he stepped away for personal reasons. We were already friends, so he was OK with being vice president.
Q: What does the Black Student Union bring to benefit students or members?
A: BSU is here to create a safe space for black students and students of color, but really for black students to do things they want, reach goals, and connect people to the resources they need near or off campus. We work with Campus Life, CORE, and people on campus to reach other communities. I’ve always wanted people to come to our meetings and events and feel like they are with their family and close friends. I also want BSU to be a space where people can go to be empowered by each other.
Q: What do you love the most about being the organization's president?
A: My favorite thing is coming up with events for students that are fun but double as an educational event. It’s hard coming up with events that are fun for college students, especially since we’re on campus so we want to be respectful. I enjoy thinking about different things that we can do as a student organization. When we are in executive board meetings we talk through many things such as coming up with new events we’ve never done. Even if we try something and it doesn’t work, it’s constructive criticism of what we could do better the next time. I love seeing when something starts as an idea and then comes to life as an event. When we have a big turnout to our events, like the hustle class before homecoming weekend, that was fun. You see everybody there, everyone gets into their vibe, you see all your friends, and it’s the same faces we see frequently. It’s delightful seeing connections being built between everyone at one event.
Q: Is the union accepting new members and what are the requirements?
A: We are going to be accepting new members this semester. We haven’t fully talked about how we want to do membership yet. We did take new members this past semester but, we may not give away shirts this time because we already did that. There are no requirements in joining besides being Black. If you’re interested in joining, you can follow our Instagram @emu_bsu. We have a post stating requirements, such as a good standing GPA. We ask for members to attend our meetings to participate in executive board elections. Active members get more perks compared to general members. For example, they don’t have to pay for the Detroit tour because it’s already covered from them paying their dues.
Q: What makes the Black Student Union stick out compared to other organizations?
A: I like the relationship we build within our members and executive board. BSU is a big organization because we cover all Black students. Members who paid dues, they actually come and show up because we build this close relationship. The executive board and active members, we’re always together and it’s an open space to talk about ideas they have for the organization. The amount of work we put in may not look like a lot on the surface, but behind closed doors we go through a lot for events to happen and connect with different people. I would say our work ethic and close bond with each other is up there because we work so hard. BSU feels like my life because I put so much effort into it.
Q: How often does the union give out scholarships?
A: This is the first year that BSU is doing our own scholarship. Last year we partnered with another organization on campus called Kings of Color. It was our first time doing the Unity Ball since we had been back from COVID-19, so we connected with Kings of Color because they were already established and already been planning big events. They gave away our scholarship last year, but this year we wanted to do it ourselves and raise money so it could come from BSU.
Q: What does the Unity Ball scholarship entail?
A: It’s a 500- to 750-word essay describing what you have done in your community to make it stronger and what initiatives you put out in order to build your community up. It’s required that you have a GPA of at least 2.5 and be in attendance at the Unity Ball. I’m excited to see who wins because we haven’t gotten many applications and we're trying to give away good money. So I invite everyone to apply. The deadline is Feb. 14, a week before the Unity Ball, so we can review all the essay applications.
Q: Are you a member of any other student organizations?
A: I’m a member of Sistas That Care. I think I joined BSU and Sistas That Care at the same time during my sophomore year. Sistas That Care was a new student organization when I joined. I was a part of the first class of people I came in. I got involved in Sistas That Care the same way I did for BSU. All the founders of Sistas That Care were people that I was around, resident assistants or graduate assistants in my program. When I heard about it, I knew it was something I wanted to do and started going to the meetings and events. I signed up to be a member with my roommate and we both got in. It was really fun. I love Sistas That Care because it’s like a sisterhood and we have a good time together. It feels like BSU, it doesn’t feel like an organization because we always try to enjoy ourselves. I’m the community service chair for Sistas That Care, but besides that I was a member my sophomore and junior year.
Editor's note: Amiya Pillow also is a writer for The Eastern Echo.
