The BSA’s President Fawaz Osideru and their Director of Communications Amirah Seriki told The Muse that they do not support the potential elimination of MUNSU’s Executive Director of Campaigns position.
This comes after MUNSU announced that they were considering the position for elimination.
Although Seriki says the position hasn’t “done substantial work for the BSA,” it “doesn’t necessarily make [the position] redundant.” She believes that it has been under-utilized and “poorly connected” to the community it’s serving.
They explained how there was a lack of collaborative effort between the Campaigns Director and the BSA, particularly for its role in Black History Month.
“There were no communications between the BSA and MUNSU in regards to Black History Month,” added Osideru, stating that anything concerning the event should go through the BSA first. There were also several things done during the last Black History Month that they did not approve of, which they believe led to a division between black students.
They clarified that they don’t want complete ownership of the initiatives during the month, just that they need to be included in the conversation.
In their statement to The Muse, MUNSU argued that the Campaigns position only really handled the Day of Action and Black History Month.
When asked about the concerns of black students all year round, not just during Black History Month, Osideru claimed that he doesn’t “believe in Black History Month, it’s black history everyday.”
There are other things that concern black students that don’t fall in that particular month, added Seriki, “there are so many other things that happen within black culture throughout the course of the year.”
Among other potential changes to MUNSU, Osideru stated that the “Black Student Rep should come from the BSA” so that there isn’t such a disconnect between the BSA and MUNSU.
Seriki added that there is a lot of independant work which leads to confusion within the community, claiming that this work shouldn’t be independant from the BSA, circling back once again to the collaborative effort issue.
Essentially, noted Seriki, “Under the right candidates, the right support, and clear expectations, the position could be useful.”