BRIDGEWATER, Va.- On Sept. 26, Bridgewater College Black Student Alliance hosted their third annual fall cookout inviting all students on campus to kick off the fall semester.
BSA is a club at Bridgwater College designed to give students from different backgrounds a safe space to express themselves on campus. BSA hosted its third annual cookout at the Idea Center to kick off the fall semester.
BSA’s board of directors includes President and BC senior Camryn Rucker class of 2025, Vice President Autumn Sissler, Event Coordinator Allyanah Jackson, Campus Engagement Coordinator Briana Morgan and Porter Burrell, Director of Social Media Engagement all part of 2026’s graduating class.
At the cookout, various food and drinks were provided free of charge to any student who wanted to come. Successfully pulling off the event took months of planning over the summer from the BSA board, only facing a “few complications,” Burrell said.
The BSA board as a collective came together to provide the cookout with Bojangles catering, with a variety of soft drinks and many games for everyone to enjoy.
This event meant a lot to the board members of BSA. One thing that meant a lot was to “see everybody come together,” Burrell said.
Even though Bridgewater College is smaller compared to other universities, it can still be hard for students to make friends. This event allowed everyone an opportunity to “make new friends and connections,” Rucker said.
The event consisted of two hours of a lot of laughing, singing, playing games and an overall good time. This was the first school-wide event BSA hosted this year and overall, it accomplished all of the goals that were set out.
“I joined BSA because when I first came here, I didn’t really have any friends or a community like that, so by joining, I gained new friends, gained new applications by joining, and gained new leadership opportunities,” Rucker said.
When the event came to a close, people were sad to leave and constantly asked how to join BSA and when the next event was.
All and all, the BSA board members set out a goal, which was to invite everybody on campus to a safe space to relax and make new friends, and that goal was easily accomplished.
