Cal Poly celebrates Black History Month

On Feb. 7, the Cal Poly Black Academic Excellence Center hosted its annual “State of Blackness” event to celebrate Black History Month and discuss the experiences of Black students on campus.

To initiate the ceremony’s opening, communications junior Jasmine Phipps recited an original poem titled, “Through the eyes of a POC,” which described the challenges she faced as she acclimated to a predominantly white institution.

A piece of advice that Phipps would like to share with incoming students is to, “Keep remembering that you are black excellence, even if you aren’t made to feel that way.”

Following Phipps’ poem, BAEC coordinator Christina Ortiz introduced the four panelists: English sophomore Kylynn Mireles, English junior Kendall Taylor, aerospace engineering senior Einstein Mwase and nutrition sophomore Nadja Braziel.

The students answered a series of questions concerning Cal Poly’s efforts to foster an inclusive community as well as their experiences in and out of the classroom.

“Being able to see a lot of different people that didn’t look like me was definitely shocking and being the only black person, I felt like I had to carry it all,” Braziel shared about her freshman classes.

Along with discussions, the event included a social hour where students could choose a breakout group to attend. Breakout leaders included Black Student Union president Nailah DuBose, the Office of University Diversity and Inclusion’s Vice President Dr. Isom, music educator Tracy Morgan and several others.

For more information on upcoming events visit the Black Academic Excellence Center’s Instagram @calpoly_baec.