With the small percentage of black students at IU—4 percent to be exact—the phrase/community “Black IU” has been coined.
Black IU is a community of IU’s black students, who mostly know each other by name if nothing else. They are usually the students who say “Hi” when they see another black face on campus, and they are also the students who spread themselves thin to be involved in multiple organizations. But what is Black IU to these students?
Small and familiar
“I feel like since there is a smaller percentage of black people on campus, it gives us the opportunity to be closer. Of course, sometimes it’s kind of cliqued up, but I guess every school can be like that. I like it. The events, when black people actually go, they be pretty turnt up. It be a lot of people there. I just like seeing black people around on campus to be honest.”
Souleymane Diallo, sophomore
“One thing I will say about Black IU is it’s a community, and when things are going on, we do stick together and we can come together and create something that’s really uplifting and home-y, in a sense. That’s why I joined BSU, the Black Student Union, and I felt like it was my home away from home and I really learned some new things and met some new people.”
Matthew Fields, sophomore
“I think Black IU is starting to become more of a close-knit family. I think that the organizations are trying to work together this year as opposed to past years to bring that community. And I definitely think that we are doing better with that by definitely supporting each other and things of that nature, and also talking a lot more.”
Aja Morrow, senior
Small and divided
“I think it’s kind of small. I think it’s a little bit divided. I’ve only been here for two semesters, but I’ve lived in Bloomington my whole life and it just seems like they’re very to themselves. There definitely are groups that you can be a part of, but it’s just hard to branch out when you haven’t been here so long. I think it just depends on who you are and how involved you are.” Erin Carter, junior
Not familiar with Black IU yet? Here are some organizations you may want to join:
Black Student Union at Indiana University
Freshman Action Team
Epiphany Modeling Troupe
African Students’ Association
IU NAACP
