Excellence amongst all cultures and identities deserve to be recognized. The members of the Black Student Union of Westlake High School are calling for the allowance to be represented in this year’s, and every following’s graduation ceremony. BSU has been denied the opportunity to be recognized off of the basis that we are not established with a national organization. The Westlake High School Black Student Union is nonetheless a cultural identity group with the mission of celebrating black culture, heritage, and excellence as well as educating others on systemic barriers that those of color experience. The students involved in Black Student Union are already underrepresented in a predominantly white community, thus making it difficult to be seen and heard by school administration. 

We are the first Black Student Union within CVUSD, and we’ve worked hard in inspiring other schools within the district to also create their own. Being in its second year in existence, we were not aware of procedures or prerequisites of being allowed to wear a stole or cord for graduation. Two possibilities we were given were to be affiliated with other BSUs within CVUSD or be affiliated with a national organization, neither of which are currently possible, and not guaranteed to gain us recognition by the school.

The members of the Westlake High School Black Student Union are asking for the support of the community to convince administration in order to be represented and recognized during one of the most important events in the students’ academic careers, their graduation.