Spartan Daily

SJSU's Black Student Union looking to grow, hosting open mic nights

Derik Irvin

Isaac Pardo sings a song he wrote at Open Mic Night in the Student Union. Thursday, February 2. Photo by Derik Michael Irvin, staff photographer

Courtney Byrd, president of the organization said, “It's important that you can get involved in something that you will always have to look back on.”

The current president is a graduating senior, who said she is busy with being chair of African-American commencement, vice chief for student elections commission with big aspirations for the future.

Founded in 1967, the attempts to unify and promote multiculturalism in education, and maintain high social and educational standards while networking with other organizations according the organization's website.

This past Thursday, the organization had the opportunity to co-host the open mic night with the Mosaic Cross Cultural Center in honor of Black History Month.

The Mosaic Center on campus promotes diversity while providing a safe place for students to work and socialize according to the SJSU website.

Maribel Gomez, graduate student and the coordinator of open mic night, said, “It was nice to see so many students share their work."

Usually, it's not easy to generate student participation Gomez said.

According to Gomez, there was a turn out of approximately 60 students and 23 performers.

The Mosaic Center hosts open mic night on the first Thursday of every month at 5 p.m.

Natalia Cruz Navarro, social work graduate student said, “It is a good idea for a student to join university groups, especially those that have a strong cultural connection."

The organization is not limited to only students of African-American descent they welcome all nationality backgrounds.

"As an undergraduate student of color, I had the opportunity to participate in the Chicana/Latina Pipeline at UCSC, which turned out to be important in my development as a student," Navarro said. "Groups that have strong and responsive objectives have a positive influence in the student's educational experience.”

According to Byrd, the organization is currently trying to increase membership and promote growth within the club due to lack of membership over the past two years.

“During my term, I’m currently working on bridging the gap between upper and lower classmen by having a mentor program,” Byrd said.

Byrd said she hopes to keep the momentum going for future years.

The organization is currently governed by nine officers.

The club has more than 100 members and approximately 50 to 60 members attend the meetings, according to Byrd.

"We still have some of the same principal and goals, trying to increase brotherhood and sisterhood," Byrd said

SJSU president Mohammad Qayoumi said he hopes to advocate for more student involvement and encourages all student organizations to continue to do their best to generate student participation.

“Don’t get discouraged, continue on and are there any other ways people can be reached,” he said.

On Feb. 22 at 6p.m., Black Student Union will host a free event called Black Appreciation night where student will be celebrating the African-American culture in the engineering auditorium.