This year, Parker’s Black Student Union (BSU) hosted a social event that was a first for the Parker community. Parker’s BSU welcomed the company of eight other schools’ Black Student Unions on Saturday, February 10, to join them for a social night in Parker’s gym. Students from around the Chicago area showed up dressed to impress.
BSU heads Audrey Hunter, Hudson Davis, Spencer Dunbar, and Gabriel Vilus worked hard this winter to bring the Chicago area its first-ever BSU social. Joined by over 250 students from Chicago area predominantly white high schools, they facilitated an hour of social connection time before the dance in which students discussed the challenges and triumphs they faced as black students in predominantly white institutions (PWIs), celebrating and honoring their theme of Black Excellence.
“I think it was well organized, I was impressed by how well we were able to convey our opinions, and how well we were able to just connect and have fun with each other, even if we were talking about some stuff that was kind of hard,” junior Dillon Madkins said. “I think I heard a lot of things that I’ve heard before, but I was glad that there was a space where people felt free to talk about their experiences.”
This was followed by two hours of dancing, food, and festivities in the Draft Gym. “That was definitely the best part of the night,” junior Gabriel Vilus said. “There was an amazing vibe, there was not a single moment where people weren’t dancing, and the music was incredible. The mosh pits were honestly better than I’ve seen at other Parker dances. Random people would pull you into the mosh pits, and you would dance with them.”
However, this event would not have happened without dedication. The BSU heads worked tirelessly to bring this event to fruition. “The biggest thing for us was trying to make sure every school was available that weekend. We originally had it on February 3, but there were events happening at Parker, so we weren’t able to have it in the Main Gym because it was booked. Then on February 10, the day that we did have it, it was difficult to come in and actually decorate and set up because field hockey was having something, there was Model UN, so we were just working around everyone else’s time,” senior and BSU co-head Audrey Hunter said.
In addition to managing Parker schedules, the heads had to work around the schedules of other schools. “Some schools have winter formals and things like that. So making sure that the day that we picked aligned with schedules for other schools was a huge part too,” Hunter said. Furthermore, ensuring that the word got around was tricky. According to junior and co-head Spencer Dunbar, “it was a difficult process trying to reach out to schools. You know, a lot of people didn’t respond, but eventually, it did become easier because once the word got out. We were able to tell other people from other schools, ‘Hey, can you let your BSU know?’ just kind of, like, getting that message around leading up to the social.”
In total, thirteen Chicago area schools were represented at the historic BSU social, hosted by Parker’s Black Student Union and their faculty sponsors Rolanda Shepard and Sven Carlsson. According to co-head Vilus, “The BSU Social will be a yearly event. It’s part of the legacy my BSU team aims to leave to this school.”
