The Ethnic and Cultural Coalition and Black Student Association launched a social media campaign Dec. 6 to spur dialogue about black students’ experiences at AU.
Under the hashtag “#BBAU,” the tweet-chat generated more than 200 tweets from students sharing their experiences with prejudice and discrimination as well as praising the black community at AU for their solidarity.
“There are great things about AU that we love, and we would like to see more of, but there are also things that are problematic that we would like to see change,” BSA president and School of International Service sophomore Alexis Adams said in an email.
She said BBAU would help AU connect with black communities at other universities. Georgetown recently launched its own BBGU event on Dec. 5, according to an Al Jazeera America report
The hashtag concept “Being Black At” originally went viral at University of Michigan after a “Hood Ratchet” party was canceled by university administration in November, according to a World News View report. Since then, universities such as UCLA and Harvard have launched similar campaigns.
Many black students used Facebook and Twitter to share brief anecdotes about their experience.
Tatiana Laing, a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs, said she feels students often minimize her success as a black student and is told she got accepted to AU because of affirmative action.
“As if my 4.0 was worth less, and my color was all that mattered,” she tweeted Dec. 6.
Other AU organizations such as the AU Library and Katzen Museum joined the chat, calling the conversation interesting and important.
SPA sophomore Lulu Chaker echoed this idea.
“You don’t have to #BBAU to recognize how this is an important conversation for everyone to have and realize,” she tweeted Dec. 6.
