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BSC in the News
Check out these recent articles about the Black Student Center and our community in the News!
New Cal State San Marcos initiative will dig deeper to recruit Black students
San Diego Union Tribune, February 22, 2022
SAN MARCOS — When Dre Biddle first arrived on campus at Cal State San Marcos three years ago, he
admits he felt uncomfortable as one of the only Black students in his classes.
But he quickly found a community in the university’s Black Student Center, where he is a peer coordinator and has founded his own group, the Black Psychology
Student Association. Today, the 20-year-old Biddle is so proud of how the CSUSM faculty
and staff have supported and encouraged him, he has gone back several times to his
alma mater, Da Vinci Design charter high school in El Segundo, to recruit more Black
students to the university...
Read the full article:
San Diego Union Tribune: New CSUSM Initiative
Black Student Center, Library Team Up for Oral History Project
CSUSM NewsCenter, February 21, 2022
The sharing of our history evolved from cave drawings to eventual oral stories passed
down by word of mouth from generation to generation.
So when Cal State San Marcos’ Black Student Center decided to team up with the library special collections group for a retrospective
on its five-year history, the consensus was to share stories and experiences orally...
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CSUSM News: Black Student Center Library Team Up for Oral History Project
Black Student Center Director Guided by Principle of Ujamaa
CSUSM NewsCenter, February 9, 2022
When John Rawlins III set out last fall to create an achievement program for Cal State
San Marcos’ Black Student Center, of which he’s the director, he knew just where to
turn for inspiration.
Ujamaa.
It might not roll off the tongue, but that word has served as Rawlins’ guiding light
for most of his adult life. It’s a term from the East African language of Kiswahili
and one of the seven principles of Kwanzaa. Literally, it translates to “familyhood.”
To Rawlins, it means the process of working together as an extended family to build
and maintain a cohesive community...
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CSUSM News: BSC Director Guided by Principle of Ujamaa
Black Student Center to Turn 5 During Black Excellence Month
CSUSM NewsCenter, January 31, 2022
In the United States, February is Black History Month. At Cal State San Marcos, it’s Black Excellence Month.
For John W. Rawlins III, director of the Black Student Center, the difference is more
than semantics. It signifies that Black history should be recognized all year long,
while February is reserved for a celebration of Black excellence and achievements...
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CSUSM News: BSC to turn 5