Q&A with the Black Student Union

In honor of Black History Month, we're featuring Taylor Hunter, a communications major ’26, the inspiring student leader behind Fisher College's Black Student Union!

 

Introduce yourself!

I'm Taylor, I'm the founder of the Black Student Union, and I’m a fourth year Communications student.

A lot of people talk about how they want to start making a change, they want to start building a community, but they don’t really want to take that first step in creating it. So, what inspired you to create the Black Student Union?

I feel like there is a large Black population at Fisher. Obviously, the greater population is the Latino and Hispanic population. I feel like there should be more spaces for students to feel comfortable.

I think Fisher does a great job with diversity and makes sure that everybody feels included and having specific events for different groups of people. But I felt like it was important to make a space where not just Black students, but everyone could come together and enjoy certain events or go to different programs. And, also, just learn more about Black history.

Are there Black leaders, Black mentors, that you kind of looked up to that kind of inspired creating the Black Student Union?

That's a tough question. I don't know, honestly! I mean, I think just thinking back, like, throughout Black history, I think you can find so many different leaders that kind of inspire change. And I think a lot of Black people just in general want to try to keep that change going and try to keep that momentum up of making sure that Black history is known and making sure that Black people feel comfortable in spaces. So, I think I can look back on any person in history and say, “Yeah, you’re probably an inspiration.”

How do you think the Black Student Union has impacted Fisher College?

I think that it's just drawn up a lot of attention. And knowing that this is a new thing coming to Fisher, because I just started it last spring. I'm just making sure students know that there is this accessible space to go to a person to turn to, and I think that's the main impact.  

I'm excited for the trip for this week. We're going to go to the African American History Museum downtown. I think that'll be a good time for everybody to come together and go learn something new, because I don't think a lot of people know that there's a lot of Black history in Boston, so I think it'll be a good opportunity for that.

What does the Black Student Union normally do? Do you have activities or events?

Events, of course. It's going to be one of the first when we go to the museum this week. But we have met and just talked about a lot of things that the Black Student Union should be doing or activities that we should see.  

Student Activities does so many events throughout the school year. It's a lot of collaboration with them as well, because some things they already have planned out. A lot of what the Black Student Union has been doing so far is just a lot of brainstorming and figuring out what events and activities to bring to Fisher.

Is anything else the organization is doing for Black History Month?

We talked about getting some food catered from Black-owned restaurants or Soul Food, Jamaican food because they're far out, a lot of restaurants. That's one of the things that I talked about in one of my classes that there isn't a lot of Black-owned restaurants in the area. So we're going to have to go out to Dorchester or Roxbury and that's a drive. Thankfully, I have the ability to do that. I can drive the vans that the school offers and I can go out to other places to go pick up food.

How can students get involved with the Black Student Union?

Contacting me would be the best way to get involved, especially if you have ideas for it! My email is thunter@fisher.edu.