BSA President Begins Term

With a new president at the helm of the Black Students Association (BSA), members have been considering ways to unify Harvard's Black community and coordinate efforts of the many Black student groups on campus.

"Things are going to change," said Art A. Hall '93, the association's new president, at his first meeting as leader.

Hall chaired a Wednesday night meeting attended by approximately 65 Blacks. He said his purpose was to gather ideas for the upcoming year and to "regain the trust" of the organization's membership.

The ideas brought up were mainly ways to promote unity in Harvard's Black community. Speakers decried the multitude of Black organizations on campus, and urged greater coordination between the groups.

Mecca J. Nelson '92 past president of the BSA, said groups such as the BSA, African American Cultural Center, Association of Black Radcliffe Women, Black Businessperson's Association, Black Cast, Expressions, Kuumba Singers, Diaspora and Onyx are "all very distinct groups pursuing the same thing."

Nelson pointed to Black student groups at the Law School and Business School as examples of unified groups with sub-committees that could perhaps serve as a model for Black undergraduates.

Nelson Boyce'92, the newly elected BSA representative to the Minority Students Alliance, said "all these names shouldn't even exist."

"You should have one Black organization, and that's it," Boyce said.

In an interview following the meeting, Hall called internal divisions in the Black community "a national problem."

"There should be no divisions. We are one people and should have one organization," Hall said.