Dear BAACC Community,
I would like to take this time to introduce myself to each of you. My name is Bruce Smith and I am the new Director of the Black/African American Cultural Center (that’s a mouthful) here at CSU. I am very excited about the opportunity to assist you in your endeavors to thrive and achieve as students and community members at CSU. I feel that it is a great privilege to follow in the footsteps of the Directors who preceded me and will do my best to honor each of their accomplishments and innovations.
Each member of the staff here at the Center is committed to contributing to the success of CSU’s students of African descent, and we are in the process of planning a variety of programs and events that will contribute to student unity, empowerment, and engagement. The Black Student Services programs that many of you are familiar with will continue, and the invaluable leadership provided by Marcus Elliott, Bridgette Johnson, and Freda Whaley also remains a constant.
We are currently planning our Ram Welcome activities and will have more detailed information about the events for that week soon. I am also very excited to be participating in my very first Black Student Retreat during the weekend of August 29th and 30th and am anxious to begin building strong and meaningful relationships with each of you.
I look forward to working with CSU’s Black community and invite you to visit the Center when you get the chance. If you have any ideas you’d like to share, please let me know.
--Bruce Smith