This past weekend, the Black Alumni Society returned to campus with four events to bring students and alumni together during Homecoming weekend. The events included the Student-Alumni Meet and Greet, All Alumni Meet and Greet, Homecoming Tailgate and Alumni Brunch.
“Black Alumni Society was started in 1986 when the university turned 75 years old, and it was really to give an opportunity and a space to highlight some of the accomplishments, the achievements of Black students who had come through East Tennessee State University,” said Yahrasiel Davis Colbert, president of BAS.
The first event, the Student-Alumni Meet and Greet, took place Friday, Oct. 24. It provided a space for current students to connect and network with alumni who were in the same college or degree program during their time at ETSU.
“I feel like we have a duty to reach back to the students. No man is an island,” Colbert. “I’m a woman of faith, and I do believe that God has put us here to do life together. And I feel like without community, you really have nothing. And sometimes it looks like you reaching back and you being a brother, a sister, a friend, an auntie, an uncle, a grandma, a mamaw to somebody else’s child.”
The event also featured George Nichols, Mary Wagner and Elizabeth Crawford, three of the first five Black students to integrate ETSU, as special guests. They, along with Eugene Caruthers and Clarence McKinney, were honored at the Statue Unveiling Ceremony the following morning with a monument commemorating their historical impact.
“I think one of the beautiful visions of what BAS does and the vision behind it is continuing to carry on that same torch and to continue to keep the Black alums connected with the university. So, I think it’s almost like a pivoting place from Black Affairs to BAS and continuing to keep our Black alums and our Black students engaged,” Colbert said.
The All Alumni Meet and Greet took place later on Friday evening at Tiebreakers. This event lets alumni reunite with old friends and meet new people, all while enjoying the fun activities and food Tiebreakers has to offer.
On Saturday, BAS hosted the Tailgate before the Homecoming game. This was their 12th tailgate, which has remained their largest event each year, reaching around 400 attendees.
“We try to make sure that everyone feels welcomed and loved and accepted, and just that they have a good time,” Colbert said. “For some of our students, it’s probably the one home-cooked meal that they’ve had in a long time, so we try to make sure that it’s a good meal and it’s something really yummy to eat, and that we have good music and that it’s just a good time to celebrate and have fun together.”
BAS’s final event was the Alumni Brunch on Sunday morning. As Homecoming ended, the brunch gave alums an opportunity to say goodbye, but also time to reflect on the weekend, its connections and the memories made.
“I think sometimes when people hear Black Alumni Society, they may not feel that it includes them, and it’s just not the case,” Colbert said. “When you look at our tailgate, it looks like the United Nations. And that’s what it’s supposed to look like. It’s supposed to look like everybody being together and supporting and loving each other and celebrating the thing that we have in common. And that we’re all bleeding blue and gold right now. We’re all Buccaneers, and we all go to this school,” Colbert said.
