“Academically, I am preparing to go to law school, so I am studying for the LSAT while doing a legislative internship, so I can get a better understanding of state government and my place in policy and if I want to work on public policy.

As for the Black Student Union, it’s been a very central part of my college experience because I joined right away as a member of leadership, but not as president. Ever since I’ve been at the U, I’ve been connected with the BSU.

It’s really become a community that I know will lift me up and a community that is just so powerful and I’m proud to be a part of.

I’m grateful for the people I have met who are in leadership, the friendships I’ve made, our supporters and our donors. I’ve been able to really network in that space and see how an organization like the Black Student Union has to exist on a college campus. I never really understood how political education was. Maybe that’s a naive thing to say, but growing up, I just loved school and wanted to learn.

Once I started college, I realized how much politics really does affect what I’m able to learn, what I’m able to say, and what student organizations are able to do. I didn’t know anything about those things, so it was a really big shock to me that someone outside of our organization who isn’t even in school or going to college right now can have such a big impact on us.

Through an internship, I was at the Capitol every day during the legislative session, looking through the bills and getting a better understanding of the drivers of certain legislation, and a lot of it came down to money rather than actual humans.

If legislators are looking at a budget and they need to make cuts, then they will pick and choose based on their politics and what their priorities are.

I’ve been so fortunate and so lucky to be in my position, where I am on scholarship at the U, and have a community that supports me and looks out for me. I just want to make sure that people who come to campus, who look like me or my siblings or any of my friends, or come from a background where they don’t have a support system, feel seen and welcome. That’s what the Black Student Union’s direction is and what I hope we can continue to be on campus.”

—Nevaeh Parker, a third-year student majoring in political science with a minor in African American Studies and president of the University of Utah Black Student Union.