Valparaiso University’s Black Student Organization (BSO) has prepared a diverse and exciting array of events to highlight Black culture and perspectives for their fourth annual We Matter Week. This year’s line up will feature various collaborations with other student organizations, and will center around the intersectionality of the issues Black people face.
BSO President Tékeidra Masters has a unique point of view on the significance of this initiative, having been in the position of both an attendee and now an organizer.
“Originally, as a freshman, I was a member of the Black Student Organization, so I would attend We Matter Week as a freshman…on the side of being taught and educated about these things. For the past three years, so my sophomore through senior year, I’ve been fortunate enough to actually be on the executive side of things, seeing the sponsoring and administrative side of things, how we’re able to put this together,” Masters said. “So I’ve been able to get two unique perspectives, [having] been a member and seeing this event being put together and I’ve also been the one putting it together.”
Throughout her time at Valpo, Masters has witnessed how this initiative has evolved throughout the years. She pointed out that it emerged from the widespread racial reckoning that occurred following several prominent incidents of police brutality.
“Originally, in 2020, it was born out of this national outcry for racial equity … these foundations across the United States began donating money. It was then that the Black Student Organization came to the consensus that Valparaiso University also needed to do work on campus. And that’s where We Matter Week was made, and this will be the third year that [it] has been something that’s been a big part of BSO’s history. And that’s a rich history,” Masters said.
However, she believes that these devastating events should not be necessary for us to confront the social issues facing our community. In light of this, she has restructured We Matter Week to reflect the underlying issues that impact Black people’s lives on a day-to-day basis.
“I think this year [has] evolved to help people understand that we don’t need to hit tragedy to then notice that we have issues in … It shouldn’t take a huge tragedy like George Floyd being killed by police … It shouldn’t take for a Black person to die at the hands of someone for [a] racially unjust reason for us to realize that, ‘Hey, something’s not right,’” Masters said. “Policies are set up against them, statistically set up for them to fail. This year … let’s look at how this persists without tragedy. It doesn’t necessarily need to be anything wrong for us to go and fix the wrong that already is here.”
In accordance with this vision, BSO is collaborating with a wide variety of student organizations, including Alliance, Alpha Phi Omega and Valpo Pre-Law Society in order to demonstrate the complex and muli-faceted nature of these issues.
“We have Alliance, they’re putting on an event called Queer Voices, African Roots. And this year, their event is going to be geared toward looking at the myths and fallacies … in regards to the HIV and AIDS crisis,” Masters said. “Then we also have an event [by] Alpha Phi Omega called Celebrating the Impact of Black Philanthropy. They’ll be looking at how philanthropy plays a big part in these racial, unjust policies.”
As she sees it, programs like these play a vital part in fulfilling Valpo’s mission to cultivate students who enrich their communities.
“The Valparaiso mission statement at-large is to nurture a community of learning that’s dedicated to scholarship, freedom and faith in order to be servant leaders. So we have to realize that in order to be a servant leader, you have to be willing to serve those in need,” Masters said. “And nine times out of 10, those people are going to look totally different than you. They’re going to have some type of difference, because we’re human and we’re diverse.”
Ultimately, Masters’ hope is that being made aware of this diversity and the ways in which we rely on one another will inspire a deeper sense of solidarity. She emphasized that the success of this initiative depends not just on BSO, but the broader campus community.
“We’re interested in building unity. It doesn’t help for us to be educating ourselves [only] on issues we have in our community, it takes the community at large,” Masters said. “So I think that the overall message is that this isn’t just a BSO thing. This is a community effort to uplift the voices that are unheard, a community effort to listen, a community effort to learn, a community effort to celebrate, a community effort to pass on this information … It doesn’t just become a one organization issue, it becomes a community concern.”
Those interested in participating in We Matter Week events should keep a look out for relevant flyers around campus or contact bso@valpo.edu for more information. A schedule of events for the week is also available on the organization’s Instagram: @bso_valpo.
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