Sacramento State has a Black Student Union for the first time in several years.

Brittney Avellar, senior public relations major, decided with her friend Courtney Franklin last semester to restart the club.

“There wasn’t really a sense of community on campus,” said Avellar, now the club’s president.

Avellar and Franklin aren’t sure why the club folded in the first place, but for them, its absence was noticeable.

“The issue was just to unite and give back to African American students in the surrounding community in order to further educate and empower their minds and bodies,” said Franklin, a senior ethnic studies major.

As a new club on campus, Avellar said, its goals are simple: get the word out and attract student interest.”Mostly we’re just trying to get everyone together now and on the same page,” she said.

The BSU has a full calendar planned out, with a semester of meetings and social events like an ice cream social, study nights and voter registration. They also plan to volunteer for the campus Safe Rides program two weekends in October and hold a talent show.

Their largest project, though, will be a mentor program at Kennedy High School in Sacramento. There, Avellar says, they will work with high school students to help establish a BSU club on campus and tutor students after school.

“We just want to make sure we outreach to the community and show other clubs maybe they’re not doing so much – they are, pretty much, but we just want to join in doing that as well,” Franklin said.

The Black Student Union’s first meeting is Sept. 16 at 7:30 p.m. in the University Union’s California Suite.