Come Together: UWSP’s Black Student Union celebrates 50 years of honoring and sharing black culture

By Jeanne Nagle | February 23, 2021

Fifty years ago this month, a new student organization burst onto the Wisconsin State. University-Stevens Point campus without much fanfare—but with plenty of purpose.

The arrival of Black Student Coalition, now known as the Black Student Union, was announced in an open letter that appeared in The Pointer on February 8, 1971. The reason for the group’s formation was made plain in its opening sentence: “We, the Black students of WSU-SP, in an honest effort to express our needs and aspirations in a meaningful way to the college community, have formed Black Student Coalition, an organization through which these needs may be attained.”

Half a century later, the BSU is still going strong as a vehicle through which the voices of UWSP’s black student body can be heard. The group also makes a point of fostering unity and understanding by sharing black culture across campus and throughout the Stevens Point community.