The Black Student Union (BSU), the Carl A. Fields Center for Equality and Cultural Understanding (CAF), and the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students (ODUS) hosted the annual B(l)ack Together event on Thursday, Sept. 5 in the University Store Courtyard.
B(l)ack Together is an annual event held during the first week of classes in the fall semester, and serves as a networking event for Black undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, and staff.
This year’s festivities centered on a theme of belonging, as graduate students advocated for their space within the University community and University staff encouraged students new and old to embrace their place on campus.
Raafa Elsheikh ’25 and Naisha Sylvestre ’25, co-presidents of the BSU, opened the event with remarks highlighting the event’s importance in welcoming new undergraduate members of the Princeton University community.
“B(l)ack Together is a space, one of the first spaces we create for all Black people,” Elsheikh said.
Sylvestre is a managing editor for The Daily Princetonian.
“Black joy is the heartbeat and pulse of our survival, our resiliency, our perseverance, our health and our well-being,” Anita Dashiell-Sparks, a professor of the University of Southern California, said in a speech alongside Travis Tucker, Assistant Dean for the Office of Diversity & Inclusion and director of the CAF.
“Your selection into this place was not a mistake, and we are so happy to have you here,” Tucker said. “You are enough, and we [the Black community] will always have your back.”
Johnson and Tucker aimed their comments at the Class of 2028, Princeton’s first graduating class admitted following the Supreme Court decision banning race-conscious affirmative action.
The University saw little movement in its enrollment figures in terms of racial diversity. Several peer universities, including MIT and Brown University, have entered the national spotlight for noticeable drops among underrepresented minorities
“Every single day, remember that you belong here. You didn't end up here by accident, you didn’t end up here by circumstance,” said Rev. Dr. Theresa Thames, the new Dean of Religious Life, echoing Tucker and Johnson.
“As you walk across this yard, as you enter your classrooms, as you enter social spaces, take up space,” she added.
This year’s B(l)ack Together event was a first for Lael Laing ’28.
A first-year student, Laing described to the ‘Prince’ her excitement about getting acquainted with the Black community at Princeton.
“From looking in before I even applied, there was a very strong Black community, and even if it isn’t the biggest group on campus, it is something that’s very reminiscent of a family,” Laing said. “That was something I was very excited to join.”
Elsheikh, who is in her senior year at Princeton, said she was proud to see how the event had evolved. She added that B(l)ack Together has had to move locations in recent years due to increases in student turnout.
“I enjoy this space a lot because it gives people a sense of community and allows them to know that you’re not alone at Princeton at all as a Black person,” she said.
Graduate students also took the opportunity of the event to advocate for their own community — which faces its own separation from the undergraduate community.
Black Graduate Caucus Co-President Richard Thornton GS, a sixth-year molecular biology student, took to the podium and spoke of plans for a mentoring program in collaboration with the Carl A. Fields center to bridge the gap.
“We’re trying to compile the various affinity groups and resources on campus, but also highlight what is already in place,” he said in an interview with the ‘Prince.’
“There are many more undergrads than there are Black graduate students, but there are still definitely useful connections that can be made,” he added, explaining how graduate students are in the position to provide valuable mentorship to their undergraduate counterparts.
Third-year history PhD student Kaylen Smith spoke in an interview with the ‘Prince’ about the importance of the Black Graduate Caucus as part of their involvement in Princeton’s Black community.
“I’m always gonna find my people [Black people] wherever I’m at,” she said.
Kennedy Dixon, a third-year PhD student in the music department, told the ‘Prince’ that B(l)ack Together has been integral to her Princeton experience. “I was so shocked [to see] so many Black people in one place,” she said, reflecting on attending her first B(l)ack Together in 2022.
“I think I’m more part of the Black community here at Princeton than I was at my undergrad,” she added.
“Don’t get so caught up in the schoolwork, don’t get so caught up in all of the stuff that you can’t be present and open your eyes and pay attention,” Assistant Dean for Muslim Life Imam Khalil Abdullah advised, continuing to cap off the streak of speeches from University officials. He encouraged students to recognize the parallels of current conflicts and global movements from when he was younger, making a veiled reference to the ongoing demonstrations on college campuses over the war in Gaza.
“Things are happening in the world now that were happening when I was in college — South Africa and apartheid, the genocide in Bosnia, police brutality of Amadou Diallo, Rodney King, the Gulf War. I could go on and on,” he said.
“Because I was present then, I am now who I am,” he said.
A previous version of this article wrote that Assistant Dean for Student Programming Jelani Johnson said that "Black joy is the heartbeat and pulse of our survival, our resiliency, our perseverance, our health and our well-being.” In fact, Anita Dashiell-Sparks, a professor at the University of Southern California, said that.
Justus Wilhoit is a senior News writer and an assistant Audience editor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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