On May 8, students in the Black Scholars Matter (BSM) program gathered for a celebration in the University Student Union — to conclude the school year and to mark a major milestone: graduation for four members of the very first cohort of the college academic enrichment, retention and empowerment program.
Amid festive, gold-and-white graduation decorations and with CSUN President Erika D. Beck, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students William Watkins, and Provost Meera Komarraju looking on, Theresa White, program director and founder, congratulated the graduating seniors.
“You are part of a long and powerful lineage of thinkers, of creators, of activists, of scholars, of visionaries — your ancestors,” White said. “Who refused to accept limitation as their destiny.”
The Black Scholars Matter program, launched in the 2022-23 academic year, helps students recruited from targeted area high schools get oriented at CSUN and offers academic, social and emotional support from freshman year through graduation. As students progress, they are expected to help mentor incoming students. The program, which aims to foster Black culture on campus, has grown and evolved each year. The experiences of the first two cohorts are the subject of a docuseries produced by White and the docuseries production team, “Radiate: Black Excellence Unveiled.”
In the weeks leading up to commencement, some of the graduates reflected on their experiences.
Theatre major Dream Pogue, who is working toward a career in film production, said the BSM program helped her acclimate to a big school like CSUN.
“When you’re coming in as a freshman, it can be sort of isolating,” she said. “Having already a tight-knit support group coming in, it makes it easier. You have other people to lean on.”
Charli Givings, a psychology major, said the program’s emphasis on creating community and giving back to the community made a difference in her CSUN experience.
“BSM is there to help you if you’re struggling — in a class, if you’re looking to make community [or] if you just want a safe environment to study in, they’re there for you,” Givings said. “They also help us engage with the community and open our eyes to different types of work that is out there.”
Givings reflected on her busy undergraduate years: jobs at Matty’s Closet, a program of the CSUN Career Center that provides free professional clothing to students, and as an assistant at the Career Center, before moving to work off campus as a behavior technician, in support of her goal to become a social worker. Givings will be starting the Master of Social Work program at CSUN this fall. She credited the BSM program with helping her find a new confidence.
“When I started at CSUN, it wasn’t my first choice — but it was easily affordable to come here. But these have been the best four years of my life,” she said. “Then, I went to Grad Fest … and I was just like, ‘Oh my God, it’s really ending.'”
At the BSM end-of-year festivities, the graduating seniors received colorful BSM stoles to wear over their commencement robes, and continuing students received certificates of achievement before they enjoyed a catered lunch, a photo booth and a DJ, who kept the music going throughout the afternoon.
In her farewell to the students, White urged them to stay connected.
“The relationships you build here are not incidental, they are essential,” she said. “Community will always be your anchor.”
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