Members and faculty with the Black Student Union and the Umoja-ASTEP learning community held a luncheon where students could sit down with a nice plate of soul food and listen to members speak on the benefits of joining the BSU and Umoja-ASTEP learning community.

The Umoja-ASTEP program is a learning community dedicated to helping African American students and their allies by streamlining the path to graduation and giving them the opportunity to attend conferences, as well as other resources. The BSU is a student-run club and has many members that are also in the learning community, which means members hang out with each other constantly.

At the beginning of the event, Skyline faculty such as President Nathan Carter, Vice President of Student Services Lauren Ford, and Communications Professor Danielle Powell all spoke about how the learning community and the club were there to support all students of color and their allies such as freshman student Chanel Green.

Green, who is a member in the learning community and on the board for BSU, shared that being a part of the programs has benefitted her greatly.

“BSU has been pretty good to me,” Green said. “I made a lot of friends and a lot of connections.”

She said in high school, she wasn’t able to find a group that she had much in common with, so one of her goals for Skyline was to join a community she felt connected to. Now she attends study sessions every week in the library with new friends that she made thanks to being in the programs.

Members of the learning community also sat up front and formed a panel, sharing their positive experiences. President of the BSU, Leilani McAllister, was one of the students on the panel. She spoke about how she was able to get to know everyone in the community better after attending the Umoja-ASTEP conference last year in November, which strengthened her friendships.

“I feel that we have really solidified really strong friendships from that time,” McAllister said.

She also advised the students in the room to take any opportunity to meet like-minded people to make more connections.

“I would just advise anyone in this room that has the opportunity to go to conferences, retreats, take the opportunity, because you’re going to be meeting people that you connect with,” McAllister said. 

Powell is one of the faculty coordinators for the learning community. She was from 2017-2020, before leaving to get her doctorate, and rejoined the learning community last year. She listed many benefits about the learning community in the event such as priority registration and designated courses for their students to take and receive credit for. Students also get a designated counselor that guides them to graduation.

She said that even though there are many reasons why she loves the learning community, overall, she loves it because it’s another way to help students at Skyline.

“I do it because it gives me another avenue through which I can support students on our campus,” Powell said.