UF’s Black Student Assembly committee has announced the official date of its assembly following recent changes to the disbursement of UF Student Government money following the Young Americans for Freedom lawsuit.
The lawsuit changed organizations’ ability to co-sponsor with their sub-organizations due to the reallocation of funds. UF Black Student Union, along with many other student organizations, faced challenges after budget changes were made affecting allocations to sub-organizations.
The Black Student Assembly is the first event of the school year held by BSU to showcase black heritage, talent, involvement, leadership and service, according to BSU’s website.
In a statement released Wednesday, assembly director Ashayla Blakely announced on social media that the annual welcoming event will be held Aug. 30 at the University Auditorium.
BSU president Ashley Garner said she had to learn to adapt in order to downscale the event to fit in the University Auditorium.
The Black Student Assembly stated in an announcement on Wednesday that the date was moved to Aug. 30 to avoid schedule conflicts with the Hispanic-Latinx Student Assembly, which is being held on Aug. 28.
Garner said the Black Student Assembly was covered through BSU’s operational budget, which allows events to be funded up to $5,000. Additionally, BSU was able to raise $607 through donations.
“The University Auditorium was very gracious to work with us, knowing about the funding,” Garner said.
The University Auditorium seats about 800, Garner said. About 1,100 students attended last year’s Black Student Assembly.
The event will open at 6 p.m. and the doors will close at 7:05 p.m.
Morgan Powell, a 19-year-old UF communications sciences and disorders sophomore, will be attending the Black Student Assembly this year for the second time. She was concerned about the funding of the event, but hopes people still come to the welcome assembly.
“It’s a nice, warm environment for people to come and have fun,” Powell said. “I love to dress up and see the talent in the black community.”
Garner hopes that the UF community will give the Black Student Assembly and BSU a chance despite funding issues.
“BSU is prominent in programming, but we realized this year prior to the funding issue, that we want to be focused on the community,” Garner said. “We want to be in the community for other organizations as well.”
Contact Alyssa Feliciano at afeliciano@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @alyssashantelle.
