Connection. Conversation. Community.
The Inland Empire BSU Community Gathering brings together middle and high school BSU leaders, college students, educators and community partners to strengthen the connections that support Black students from secondary school through college.
Our goal is to build a bridge among Black student leaders and educators from Moreno Valley College (MVC), San Bernardino Valley College (SBVC), California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB), UC Riverside (UCR), and middle and high school BSUs throughout San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
Rather than students and educators doing this work campus by campus, the gathering creates an opportunity to meet one another, exchange ideas, identify resources and begin building a stronger regional network of Black student leadership.
Centering Student Voice
We don’t simply want to talk about Black students. We want Black students in the conversation.
The evening will create space for young people to share what is working on their campuses, what challenges they are experiencing, what helps them feel connected and supported, and what they would like educators and community leaders to understand about their experiences.
Students should leave knowing that their BSU is not an island. There are Black student leaders, educators, colleges, universities and community organizations throughout the Inland Empire ready to connect.
The BSU Community Gathering expands that village across the Inland Empire.
UC Riverside’s African Student Programs demonstrates what this kind of connection can look like across the educational pipeline. Its work includes leadership development, community building and outreach to community colleges and high schools. UCR describes its approach simply: “It takes a village to graduate a scholar.” (African Student Programs)
Student belonging and connection matter.
The California Department of Education emphasizes that Black student achievement requires intentional attention to academic achievement and positive student outcomes. CDE is also convening Black educators, advocates and community leaders around strategies and evidence that improve outcomes for Black students. (California Department of Education)
Why This Gathering Matters
Event Partners & Sponsors
Clay Counseling Foundation is a nonprofit organization based in San Bernardino, California, providing culturally responsive, evidence-based mental health services to underserved communities throughout San Bernardino County and Riverside County since 2015.
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The mission of African Student Programs is to:
transform the lives of undergraduate and graduate Black
scholars from the Pan African Diaspora (including Black
American, Caribbean, Afro-Latinx, and African continent) and
cultivate a safe, inclusive community where their Black identity is
affirmed.
As a proud member of the world’s most prestigious public university system, UC Riverside both embodies and empowers the California Dream. Right here in Inland Southern California, on our nearly 1,200-acre campus, tomorrow’s leaders come together today, finding new ways of thinking, doing, and achieving to make a difference in an increasingly multicultural and interconnected global society.
The BSU Network is impacting school site climate and culture, by first valuing relationships, building powerful life and leadership skills, providing a safe and welcoming place for all students often feeling isolated, and where preparing scholars for college and career success is the priority.
The purpose of the Black Student Union, BSU, is to promote activities of common interest, as well as cultural and educational benefits for the African/African-American student body. BSU is an organization dedicated to community service & outreach, cultural enrichment & awareness, and social activism and unity. This organization will provide a support system that will lead to academic success and serve as a voice for the African/African-American community at CSUSB.
“I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong.”
— Frederick Douglass