Sweet Heat Thrift’s stand at the Black Student Union Flea Market.
NATALIE SCHMITT / THE QUADRANGLE
By Natalie Schmitt, Contributor
Manhattan University’s Black Student Union (BSU) held their first flea market of the semester with a lively and welcoming atmosphere, filled with both music and free snacks.
Faramoluwa Davis, president of the Black Student Union, spoke to The Quadrangle about why being a part of the club is so important to her.
“I wanted to make each person in this school understand how it feels to be a Black person on campus– I wanted the freshmen that come in to understand that they could have a home here no matter what,” Davis said.
BSU is a club that strives to create a more welcoming and inclusive environment in all aspects.
“We are going to be having more professional development events for the Black community, like resume writing and Linkedin profiles,” Davis said.
Sterling Grant, a senior communications major with a concentration in integrated marketing communications at Manhattan University shared with The Quadrangle how her business inspired the start of these flea market events with BSU.
“For my business, Sweet Heat Thrift, which I started back in September 2022, we’d normally go around to other campuses,” Grant said. “We specialize in vending at college campuses like Marist College and we saw how beneficial it was for student vendors there selling their own products and their own business lines.”
Grant herself is a small business owner of both Sweet Heat Thrift and The Silver Lining.
“I brought that opportunity here to Manhattan University because everyone deserves an opportunity to make money,” Grant said. “Promoting small businesses is really important and what better place to do that than a college campus because we see each other every day. It’s nice to have an opportunity to support each other and get more exposure for our businesses and also just share the collective love of fashion in New York City.”
Makayla Dorvil, a senior psychology major, is a coordinator for the club and shared why joining BSU was important to her.
“I wanted to be a part of Black Student Union because I wanted to be a part of a change in the school about creating a more welcoming environment not just for black students, but for everyone on campus,” Dorvil said.
Dorvil provided The Quadrangle with an exclusive insight on what she hopes to plan for a future event.
“I want to do a hair braiding event, just talking about African-American hair and the history behind it and how we got to braids, twists and cornrows–and learning how to do it in a friendly and welcoming environment,” Dorvil said. “I started learning how to do hair myself during COVID and it’s definitely hard, but once you’re able to do it, you get to experiment with so many different hairstyles!”
BSU has a plethora of events coming up that they are hoping will encourage others on campus to embrace inclusivity and promote a welcoming environment. You can follow their Instagram page @manhattanu.bsu for more information on their upcoming events.