Gertrude C. Ford Ole Miss Student Union

The Black Student Union (“BSU”) at the University of Mississippi was founded in 1968 and received its incorporation as a student organization on March 25, 1969. During the process of incorporation, the organization also received support and endorsement from University Young Democrats, another university organization.

The Black Student Union’s mission is as follows: “to stimulate the intellectual, political, cultural, and social growth of all University of Mississippi students, primarily African-American students. Through enriching experiences such as general meetings, programming, leadership and mentoring programs, and community service, we seek to educate ourselves and the larger University of Mississippi community, in hopes that awareness will spark action and ignite change in our communities. It is our belief that men and women of untapped ability become columns of wisdom when inspired by desire, and enthused by action.”[2] According to the BSU, the purpose of the organization is to “foster a sense of community at The University of Mississippi.”

Since its incorporation, the BSU has been an organization that has fought for change. One of the BSU’s most notable protests took place in 1970 at Fulton Chapel where a group of BSU members interrupted a highly publicized Up With People concert and took the stage to announce a list of demands. Included in their demands was a call for hiring more Black employees and the incorporation of Black studies programs. In the 1980s, the BSU fought for the removal of racist symbols, like the Confederate flag. More recently (2016), the BSU and the University of Mississippi’s chapter of the The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) staged a sit-in at the Lyceum to demand that the university take a more aggressive public stance against a racist statement made by a student. Jordan Samson, a senior at the university at the time, made the comment on Facebook under a post regarding the protests in Charlotte, North Carolina. In the comment, Samson suggested lynching the protestors, writing, “I have a tree with room for all of them if you want to settle this Wild West style.”

The Student Union is also home to the Associated Student Body (ASB). In 2000, Nic Lott was named the first African American Student Body president and in 2012, Kimbrely Dandridge was elected as president of the Associated Student Body, becoming the first African American female to hold the position. Joshua Mannery, the current ASB president is the sixth African American student to become ASB president at the university. In an interview with The Daily Mississippian after Mannery was elected, Carl Tart, the university’s first Homecoming King said “We go into these elections not expecting to hear our names on the other end. For myself and for Josh to accomplish these things, it really kind of changes the narrative for how African American students will continue to go into these elections.”[3]

While the Union physically houses organizations like the BSU and ASB, which are influential in many Black students’ experience at the university, the Union is in many ways the “epicenter of Black social life at the University of Mississippi.”[4] Starting freshman year, while white students participate in sorority or fraternity recruitment or activities at the Grove, Black students are often left with limited social options, and the Union becomes a place to meet and socialize.[5] In addition, the steps of the Student Union is home to Union Unplugged, an event occurring every Tuesday and Thursday where NPHC organizations perform.

This entry was written by Reagan Stone

1.  Ford, Drew, "Black Space On A White Campus; Exploring The Relationship Between African American Students And The Physical Structure Of The University Of Mississippi" (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1159.
2. “Black Student Union.” Black Student Union | University of Mississippi, n.d. https://bsu.olemiss.edu/.
3. Hitson, Hadley. “Meet Your New ASB President: Joshua Mannery,” April 9, 2020. https://thedmonline.com/meet-your-new-asb-president-joshua-mannery/. 
4. Ford, Drew, "Black Space On A White Campus; Exploring The Relationship Between African American Students And The Physical Structure Of The University Of Mississippi" (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1159.
5. Ford, Drew, "Black Space On A White Campus; Exploring The Relationship Between African American Students And The Physical Structure Of The University Of Mississippi" (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1159.