BSA holds meaningful Black History Month events

By Natalie Koegler '24 and Tanvi Ravilla '24

Members of the Black Alumni Panel join BSA co-leaders and advisor Mr. Maxime Sinal in the Oakwood Room.

To celebrate Black History Month, Wardlaw+Hartridge’s Black Student Alliance has organized numerous events and presentations to take place throughout the month. The events began with informative presentations given by Black Student Alliance (BSA) members to focus on important African American historical moments with the intent of bringing awareness to the inequality and racial discrimination faced by the Black community.

By simultaneously bringing awareness to injustices and uplifting the Black community in W+H and beyond, the affinity group hopes to educate the student body on information they may have previously been unaware of, and open up new and unique opportunities for the students of our community.

Every week, during the Morning Meeting block, BSA members presented a topic of historical significance within the African American community.

A few of these speakers so far have been Italia Penevolpe ‘25, Xavier Hinds ‘23, Nosagie Obadiaru ‘23, Natalie Koegler ‘24, and Kayla Martel ‘24. By discussing topics such as court cases, specifically Loving v. Virginia, historical figures such as Tupac Shakur, and important tragedies like the Rosewood massacre, these presentations work to build an understanding in our community of systems of power against the Black community as well as the hindrances in society against equality and equity.

On February 16, the BSA had another important event and organized a Black Business Expo featuring Black-owned businesses and a keynote speaker. This event recognized members of the W+H community, including Jayla Presley-May ‘26, a young business owner.

“The BSA had a great turnout for the black business expo. I was very excited to share my homemade organic soy wax candles with the W+H Community. It was also inspiring and informative to chat with other young black female entrepreneurs. I hope this becomes another great W+H tradition,” said Presley-May of the event.

The following week, the BSA hosted an alumni panel featuring five Black W+H alumni: Karen Leach-Toomer ‘85, Lamar David Mackson ‘87, Sachina Lyons-Brown ‘89, Philip Michael Clay II ‘08 and Vanessa Santana ‘13. Through this platform, important members of the community shared their own experiences with racism, future careers, high school and navigating the world as Black Americans. This panel was meant to be a fun and interesting way to inspire and connect students while having an invaluable conversation about racial identity in the W+H community.