African American Student Center

Instagram: @aasc_wsu

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WSU-African-American-Student-Center-102092221493767/

Website: https://aastudentcenter.wsu.edu/

Located on the 4th floor of the Compton Union Building, the African American Student Center (AASC) focuses on being a safe space for African American and Black students on campus, as well as providing resources that specifically help their students to be successful in academics, extracurriculars and their future careers. As for events, they work with the Multicultural Student Services on campus to put together a bi-annual potluck for students and work on an event-packed calendar for the month of February in honor of Black History Month. Although Black History Month is in February, they still put together events to educate students and faculty about the Black history and Black struggles around the year, so they always have some kind of an educational opportunity for you to keep learning.

Is the African American Student Center open to all students?

Yes! Although the center is known to be a primary space for Black students, everyone is welcome to come and hang around. They also have study hours and other such late night events that you can look out for. Keep in mind that a lot of the centers are closed right now due to online classes and COVID-19 restrictions but they still operate through Zoom.

If you’re a student, how can you help?

• Hang around at the center to meet new people and make new friends! Although the center has very many resources for Black students, it is also the very same space for you to meet more people, interact, and get to know their struggles on campus and further beyond in the WSU community. It’s always open to anyone and everyone from other centers or other students on campus! (Since classes are going to be online, the center will be switching all operations online so watch out on their website and other social media to learn more about drop-in hours and other events.)
• Learn more about other Black student organizations through this center. Most of the Black student organizations you are aware of, fall under AASC. Therefore, this is your perfect place to find out information about other organizations. The student mentors hanging around in the center are always here to help you find something that fits your interest.
• Social media!!! Follow them on their Facebook, Instagram and their website to keep track of all their events. Most of them will be online and make it a point to try to go to at least few of these this academic semester.

If you’re a faculty, how can you help?

• Even if you’re not able to spend your time at the center, AASC puts together multiple events that you can check out later in the evening or during the weekend. Show your support by attending these — either by yourself or with your family!
• Talk about the organizations within the AASC with your students. Whatever college you may fall under, it is important that your students learn about Black student organizations and the struggles they face on and off-campus. While we would love to know what your dog did over the weekend, we would definitely appreciate a brief shout out for these organizations, the work they are doing on campus, as well as how your students and fellow faculty can help.

If you’re a higher official at Washington State University, how can you help?

• Please come to the center and interact with students from time to time. This is the most natural environment when you can catch students willing to talk while they are working on their homework or simply hanging around with their peers. Make sure your actions reflect the words. If you say that you always stand with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color students, make sure that is reflected through your action as well. We can do all the work in the bottom but change/allyship also comes with the people in power willing to sit down and listen to student stories. These centers (mostly) always have their doors open for higher officials and we would like to see more of you show up and listen.
• Hiring and having more B.I.PoC mental health counselors at the center itself. WSU already does a great job with the work Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) does in providing students with (mostly) free mental health support. But most of B.I.PoC students do not want to utilize these resources since they do not have someone across the table who looks like them, who can sympathize with their feelings while still staying rooted to their culture. Sometimes, students don’t even want to go all the way to the CAPS building because they feel intimidated in an unfamiliar environment. Having a counselor sit in the center and provide assistance when needed, conduct workshops, and other such measures would prove to be highly effective. This is an important issue to address because not only does this help with the mental health of your students of color, it also helps you retain these students in attending your university.

The student mentors feel like the best way students could show support and allyship is by simply hanging out with fellow students at the AASC as well as attending events hosted by the Center and other organizations under the Center. They also have multiple club meetings with people from all backgrounds and races, which serves as a wonderful opportunity to come and learn a little bit about the Black community on campus, what they do, and why they do it.

With the African American Student Center and other such centers at the Compton Union Building, the student mentors really do a lot of the work. And a lot of them are first-generation students too, who are themselves trying to find their own place at WSU. Out of their kind heart, willingness to help, and perseverance, they have done a lot of work to keep the center running successfully. They keep consistently providing resources such as study hours, academic assistance, career assistance and free food — something sincerely so commendable. As a freshman and international student, I made use of these student mentorship programs and I know it would help you too.

Thank you to the African American Student Center and student mentor Talia Sampson for answering questions and providing more context on the AASC!