Located in Manzanita Hall 112 and 114, Black Scholars Matter (BSM) is a program that recruits graduating high school seniors and helps them prepare to excel in their college experience at CSUN. This program assists the underrepresented in achieving excellence through holistic support, mentorship, tutors, and community support.
BSM, led by program director Theresa White, is a newer addition to the campus that wasn’t always its own entity.
“Black Scholars Matter was an extension of B2F, which was Bridge to the Future, and I believe it was around 2023 when they broke off from the Bridge to the Future to be its own program,” said BSM Creative Media Manager Julissa Garcia.
She explained that recent renovations to the BSM office will allow additional space for students to participate in the many activities that BSM hosts, like their end-of-week empowerment sessions. These are key components of their goal for holistic support through what they refer to as MIPS – mental, intellectual, physical and spiritual support – which mentors and staff utilize to help students progress.
“I would say that BSM is not just an initiative to help them succeed in academics, but just to succeed within their own personal growth emotionally, because we want to change the stigma of how we encourage and motivate our young Black people,” said BSM mentor Joshua Hurst. “Because if we all come together and change stuff, little things, it makes a big deal.”
The program currently hosts over 20 scholars in their three cohorts and hopes to reach 40 or 50 once cohort four arrives in the fall. High school seniors attending Hamilton, Birmingham Charter or Taft Charter High Schools are eligible to apply.
“I want future BSM graduates to walk the halls of CSUN knowing they belong, knowing they have a place, a voice and a community that stands behind them. I did not reach this milestone alone,” said Champion “Chester” Wilson, the first graduate of BSM. “I was lifted by mentors who believed in me, by peers who stood beside me, and by a program that invested in my success.”
