This week the Pulse checks the vitals of Tawana Jackson, a senior who is president of the Black Student Union.
Name: Tawana Jackson
Age: 22
Hometown: Lorain, Ohio
Major: Psychology
What purpose does the BSU serve at the University? We serve as a union for all students of African-American decent. We’re open to everyone. There are no restrictions as far as membership. We have political, social, academic and leadership programs.
What kind of things did you do to celebrate Black History Month? We had a really nice interactive program last week called “Where do we go from here?” that tried to portray to students what our ancestors went through. We had them tightly packed in a room to pretend like that was a slave ship and we made them grab wrists and we told them to imagine somebody decaying next to you and people having bowel movements on the ship. Then we threw cotton on the ground and told them to pick it up and they couldn’t have anything to drink. It was heart wrenching, but they totally were taken by it, very intrigued.
Are you involved with any other campus organizations? I am a Springboard coach and I am involved with Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.
What do you like to do with your spare time? I like to write stories and shop. I like to talk and I love to make people laugh. I think I’m a comedian.
What are your plans for after graduation? I’m going to grad school in the fall and my ultimate goal is to become a Christian counselor. In one word, how would your friends describe you? I think they would call me assertive because I’m a leader but I also care about what other people think.
What are your plans for spring break? Hopefully I’ll just be going home and doing some homework. I’ve been really busy this semester with BSU and getting ready for graduation. I’ll have a well-needed break.
If you could change one thing about BGSU, what would it be? I guess I would try to integrate people more. Lorain is a very diverse city where you don’t think about race growing up. I would try to encourage people to integrate more and learn about other cultures they may not be familiar with.
What’s next for the BSU? After spring break, we’ll be having elections and just wrapping up the year basically.
