On Wednesday, Aug. 21st, Nicholls State University’s Black Student Union hosted its annual block party, Back on the Yard with BSU.

Trang Tran, president of the BSU, said the event is geared towards connecting new students on campus. The event also helps promote other minority-based organizations on campus.

The event was hosted in front of the Student Union and consisted of music and games. Some of the games included cup pong, Jenga and Connect Four.

“This is like an introduction into the semester for people who have been here to get together and for newer people, like freshmen, to get to know each other and get to know us,”  Makala Breaux, a senior from Belle Rose, said.

Juniors Melody Bridgewater, from Morgan City, and Korhoree Boston, from Marrero, attended the event Wednesday night. They said that the event brought people together and helped people mingle, especially since it’s the beginning of the semester.

Tran said the BSU was founded on March 13, 2018, by Nicholls alumnae, Ciera Eugene and Sakinah Abdul-Aziz. She also said the organization was created in an effort to cater to a culture they felt did not have a presence on the Nicholls campus yet.

“Being on this campus for so many years, especially being a minority, you see what they don’t have and what they do have. Sometimes, it’s things that don’t really cater to our own culture,” Tran said.

While the Back on the Yard Block Party was hosted by BSU, it was intended to introduce students to all of the minority-based organizations on campus.

During the event, Alpha Phi Alpha, Omega Psi Phi, Sigma Gamma Rho, Crown, Nicholls Black Women Leadership Association and the Nicholls Chapter of NAACP were able to introduce themselves and speak about their respective organization.

While the event was intended to be fun, the Nicholls Black Student Union also hosts more serious events throughout the year such as discussion panels, community service events and social issue awareness events.

“We have more events; it’s not all fun and games, but this event is more to get everyone comfortable with each other and to just spend time with everybody,” Arrington Blanchard, vice president of the BSU, said.

The Black Student Union’s first general meeting of the semester will be held on August 27th, in the Bayou Suite at 5:00 p.m.