Senator-at-large
joined to help change organizations
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By Latifah Muhammad
Online Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer
Sen.-at-Large Shauntel Smith joined the Associated Students Senate to increase
black students’ presence in student government.
For Smith, who grew up in a Merced, Calif., coming to Cal State Long Beach and
taking black studies classes expanded her knowledge of the history of her ancestors.
Before college she learned only limited information about well-known people in
black history like Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks.
“
The only time we learned anything about black people was during black history
month,” she said.
Initially she was a history major, but after taking a black studies class, she
said changed her life, Smith changed her major to black studies. She decided
she wanted to become a college professor focusing on black and African studies
with an emphasis on the black family.
Last summer Smith became a McNair Scholar. The program is designed for students
who are strong academically and plan to attend grad school. Students are given
$1500 to do research on a specific topic of interest. Once their research is
completed, they write essays that get published in the McNair Scholarly Journal.
Last summer Smith researched and wrote a paper, which will be published this
year, about the psychological and social identity issues facing bi-racial individuals.
She juggles her academic duties with being a resident assistant and a member
of the African Student Union (ASU), the Black Studies Student Association (BSSA),
Afiya West African Dance Ensemble, Black Business Association and Sisterfriends.
Smith chose to run for senator-at-large after a friend encouraged her to do so.
“
I had been involved in ASU, other black organizations, BBSA and a resident assistant,
I just really wanted to see how everything goes down in the school
system,” she said.
Smith acknowledges there was a need for black representation in the Senate to
make changes for organizations such as ASU.
When her term began, Smith was assigned to work with the Program Council serving
as a liaison between the council and the Senate as well as a voting board member
of the organization. For Smith, being a part of ASI, has given her the chance
to enlighten students to the advantages CSULB offers. She recently informed a
resident in her dorm who was inquiring about traveling to different graduate
schools around the country about a student travel fund that helps pay for students
to visit graduate schools they would like to attend.
Megan King, the vice chair of the Program Council and vice president of the ASU,
has worked closely with Smith for the past three years.
“
She’s fabulous,” King said. “She puts the students first and
brings an aspect of uniqueness to the voting board.”
According to King, Smith has been instrumental in helping to redraw the organization’s
working rules, which outlines how the
Council operates. She has also volunteered and attended many events put on by
the Program Council such as concerts, movies
and Homecoming.
“
She takes it beyond just what her job entails,” King said.
“
She really came out to support [Black Psychology Student Association] even though
she’s not a psychology major,” said Itoro Udofia, who is the president
of the BPSA. Though she had not worked with Smith prior to last semester when
she started to attend the BPSA meetings, she said Smith’s presence has
been helpful to the organization.
“
She is very giving of her time and support,” Udofia said.
For Smith, being a black senator has placed a lot of expectations on her shoulders
and caused some negative responses to what some say she has not achieved on campus.
But she said fellow black students do not have a full understanding of how the
school government is run, which is why she encourages them to get involved.
“
I hope some black people are looking at some of us in here and think that they
can make some changes,” she said.
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