Getting through college is a challenge. Imagine how much harder it could be if no one understood you or was looking out for you.
Black Excellence is the black student union at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and it offers a comfortable space where students can come together, said founder Nicholas Banks. Here, students are encouraged to develop their own truest selves.
“W.E.B. Du Bois talks about in ‘The Souls of Black Folk’ this mask that we feel like we have to wear, this double consciousness, trying to get a better understanding of our African selves while in a space like America,” Banks said.
After his time as an undergraduate at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, he came to realize that he wanted to create for UNO students his experience in Afrikan People’s Union at UNL.
“And so for me, the best way to do that was to really cultivate something that allowed the students to invest, allowed the students to progress,” he said.
Every campus is different, and has unique needs, Banks said. Black Excellence also seeks to teach black students to advocate for themselves.
When Black Excellence was first founded, it was hard for the students involved to find the right direction, Banks said. But now, years later, he is happy to see that the union has developed consistent programming and a presence on campus.
Black Excellence is important to UNO because it is a predominantly white institution, said Timberly Walker, chair of public relations for the student union. It offers black students a place to come together, and helped her come out of her shell.
“It’s meant a lot to me because I have never been surrounded by so many people that have looked like me,” she said. “I went to a so-called diverse high school, but I didn’t really see so many black people recognized as they are here at Black Excellence.”
Banks summed up the philosophy that drives Black Excellence by quoting Maya Angelou, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
