2022 LSU Gumbo - Book - Page 111
The LSU West Indian Student Association
provides students from West Indian backgrounds and
nationalities with a place to socialize and embrace their
cultures.
According to the WISALSU Instagram, its mission
statement is “to bring together, expound on and
celebrate West Indian heritage and culture” and create
representation and promotion of Caribbean nations
through unification, campus-wide engagement and
education.
Business freshman Trinity Hunte-Angus and
International Studies and Global Diplomacy freshman
Sydney Whitfield created the organization because
they wanted to showcase their origins along with other
West Indian and Caribbean students’ backgrounds.
“Sydney and I were discussing the establishment of
an organization on campus for Caribbean students and
wondered if there was one already,” Hunte-Angus said.
“Sydney did some research and discovered that there
was an organization but was no longer active. So, we
decided to create our own organization.”
Hunte-Angus said she and Whitfield started the
West Indian Student Association to bring more
awareness to the Caribbean population on campus.
“The main reason why Sydney and I started this
association was that there is not a very high Caribbean
population on campus,” Hunte-Angus said. “Us LSU
students who are of West Indian and Caribbean
descent miss being around people of our culture. Also,
we want to bring those of us within the West Indian
and Caribbean diaspora a safe space to converse on
campus.”
Hunte-Angus believes the organization will provide
students of West Indian heritage with a feeling of
inclusivity, events, and a place to share ideas and create
bonds with one another.
Whitfield said she finds comfort in discussing
her culture with other Caribbean students, which
prompted her to establish the association. She believes
anyone interested in learning about West Indian
culture can join the WISA.
“WISA was created after a series of conversations
between several Caribbean students and myself
who felt like we didn’t have a space to celebrate and
discuss our cultures,” Whitfield said. “We had been
complaining about how we missed our cultures’ food
and couldn’t seem to find it anywhere within Baton
Rouge.”
Whitfield expressed her desire to form a campus
community for students with Caribbean heritage.
“My objective in starting this organization was
to give people whose heritage is the Caribbean an
opportunity to see more of their culture reflected on
campus and people to meet who understand their
experiences, their foods, their music and even the way
they speak,” Whitfield said.
Whitfield also said WISA plans to put on a variety
of events to increase student outreach.
“The events WISA intends to promote are anything
related to celebrating Caribbean culture; this could
be a fete — a type of party — a J’ouvert or even
Carnival,” Whitfield said. “We hope to bring attention
to celebrations native to our islands and countries.
We also hope this dismantles some of the negative
stereotypes associated with our traditions and culture.”
Whitfield said WISA has allowed her to connect
with students on campus.
“Creating WISA has given us the opportunity
to connect with a multitude of students who were
recently spread out across campus with no guidance as
to where to start looking for people that were also from
the West Indies,” Whitfield said.
Psychology freshman Khi Addison is of Jamaican
descent and expressed a desire to find a community
that expresses their love for West Indian heritage.
“While WISA is very new, we’ve already begun
learning about one another’s similarities and
differences through our GroupMe chat,” Addison
said. “We highly encourage students to discuss their
experiences, whether it be in the kitchen, at a festival
or within their own home. These types of moments
are valuable to the culture we’re hoping to build as we
expand the organization.”
Addison also believes that diversity is the crowning
jewel of WISA.
“Personally, I believe the best part of WISA is the
diversity,” Addison said. “Many students struggle
to find a community they identify with or feel
comfortable joining as an ‘outsider,’ so WISA creates a
new space to consider.”
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