The University Student Union (USU) hosted Cultural Welcomes: Welcome Black on Sept. 17, where student organizations shared their missions and students connected. The Cultural Welcomes series gives students a chance to engage with communities on campus.

Welcome Black featured music, a performance from CSUN’s Wahala Crew dance team, cultural food and student organizations, including Black fraternities, sororities and clubs like Black Student Athlete Association (BSAA), Black Student Union (BSU) and Africana Studies.

Event coordinator Apple Joe Patterson said events like these are not only for the university but also for the greater community.

“The main objective of Welcome Black is to bring students not just of African backgrounds or not just of Black backgrounds, it’s to bring different groups together to know and to understand different cultures,” Patterson said. “It is a place of community, it’s a place of feeling comfortable and it’s a place of knowing that it’s okay to exist in your own skin the way that you are.”

Welcome Black served as an introduction to the broad culture at CSUN. This event aimed to set a tone of inclusion, community and unity for the semester ahead. Welcome Black provided Black students with a space to connect with the University’s resources, student organizations and with one another.

As 2000s throwback songs played, students broke out into dance between the student organizations’ booths.

Fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha made an appearance at Welcome Black. Alpha Phi Alpha is the first Black intercollegiate Greek letter fraternity and was founded in 1906 at Cornell University. The fraternity shared their principles of academic success, leadership and uplifting others.

At the event, Alpha Phi Alpha members fostered connections with students and emphasized the importance of brotherhood, involvement and cultural pride. Dylan Lewis, a fraternity member, said it is vital for CSUN to celebrate the Black community.

“It’s very important for CSUN to have events like this to bring the community together and help each other figure out the resources that we have,” Lewis said. “My favorite part is just meeting new people and tabling with my fraternity.”

Details for future USU events can be found on the USU website.