Check out this story trending Nationally.

Black Student Union gains national attention for #BBUM Twitter campaign

“University students took to Twitter in droves Tuesday afternoon to share their experiences as Black students in Ann Arbor and bring attention to issues of race and diversity on campus using the hashtag #BBUM.

The campaign, initiated by the University’s Black Student Union, has built up over the past few days before trending nationally on Twitter Tuesday. The hashtag gained momentum after the student organization distributed an e-mail to community members and other campus groups encouraging them to participate in the online conversation.

LSA senior Tyrell Collier, BSU’s president, said the #BBUM campaign was planned to raise awareness of the experiences of Black students and for the BSU to collect subjective data it can couple with University statistics to address pressing issues Black students face.

Collier said BSU encouraged students to tweet both negative and positive experiences, though the tweets have been predominantly negative, which he expected.

He said the issue is especially pressing on campus because while the University frequently discusses ways to increase diversity, many communities have yet to witness tangible results.

“I would like to see the lives of Black students valued more,” Collier said.

By 3:45 p.m., over 5,600 tweets included the hashtag from Ann Arbor and beyond.

“I don’t think this is a problem specific to the University, I think it’s an experience that Black students at predominantly White universities across the nation are facing,” he said of the far-reaching responses.

Black enrollment at the University has fallen precipitously over the past decade largely due to Proposal 2, an amendment to the state constitution that bans affirmative action policies that was passed by Michigan voters in 2006. The proposal, formally named the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, bars the University from considering race in its admissions process.”

Check out the tweets below and read more at The Michigan Daily.

Ubuntu,

From Aspiring Humanitarian, Relando Thompkins, MSW

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