Loud shouts of victory and laughs come from the media center as members of the Black Student Union (BSU) play a game of Uno. The players begin to get more involved in the game as they grow louder, and the game quickens its pace. 

Board Game Day is an annual BSU Spirit Week event, first started three years ago. This year, it took place in the media center during lunch on Friday, Feb. 23. Board Game Day aims to celebrate Black culture and community, bringing members together to play games including giant Jenga, mancala, dominoes, cards, and limbo. 

“The idea behind it was to promote unity and spread education,” BSU co-president and communications senior Cloe Barrau said. “Games in the Black community are really important. They’re very central at family events, specifically games like dominoes and mancala which have roots in African history.”

To plan all of the events that happen throughout BSU Spirit Week, each day and their respective events were assigned to different BSU officers. Theatre sophomore Geneya Henderson and BSU secretary and communications senior Faustina Duvigneaud organized this year’s Board Game Day. 

“I chose to be in charge of Game Day because I find this to be the most fun option of the week,” Duvigneaud said. “We’ve been talking about our future journey and pushing towards the future with history, but I think it’s fun to take a step back and see the fun parts of our past, showing how we managed to overcome our hardships and struggles and still finding joy.” 

Events like Board Game Day are meant to give students more opportunities to connect with other members of the Black community around the school. BSU co-historian and digital media junior Tyson Jimerson, who helped organize and promote BSU Spirit Week, thinks that these events help solidify an “awesome community” of more than 150 active members. 

“It (BSU) builds a bond between people that look like you and have the same interests and experiences as you,” Jimerson said. “It’s different from normal friendship. It’s a lot of fun just being around people that are like you, participating in activities with them, and having a good time.”