Ms. Wrambel, Padua’s Black Student Union (BSU) moderator, was approached last year by now senior, Kennedy Crowder about starting a Black Student Union. Ms. Wrambel said that “the intention [of the club] was to create a safe space in which to discuss issues of diversity and inclusion, particularly those relating to racial disparity that exist within the world.”

The goal was to execute this in a way that was educational to the participants in the club and to ultimately “give a voice to a population that is sometimes voiceless” said Ms. Wrambel. However, the question Ms. Wrambel had to ask was, “how can we generate a dialogue amongst our students [in order to discuss these issues]?”

Co-founder, Jasmine MacFarlane was heavily influenced by her father, who helped co-found the Black Student Union at Salesianum School when he attended many years ago. “He always taught me the importance of including marginalized people, because it opens up avenues of advancement for others, and improves the organization as a whole to benefit from different viewpoints” said Jasmine.

Jasmine also says “being able to respectfully debate someone is a skill that becomes increasingly important as we mature and form our own opinions.” She knew she wanted this to be a foundational aspect of the BSU.  

The ultimate goal of the club is to raise awareness of the inequality within the world and to make people aware of, even something seemingly as simple as the importance of an African-American woman’s hair.

Ms. Wrambel said the primary focus in this club is to “educate.” She, along with Kennedy and Jasmine, want the participants to be educated on the subjects of inclusion, perspective, diversity, inequality, and the “culture and triumphant of the black community”, said Kennedy.

The group primarily discusses controversial topics that are sometimes overlooked within a community “that may not have otherwise been exposed to it,” said Kennedy. It provides Padua with the available space to openly talk about the racial issues within the world.