Grand Valley State University hosted several of its traditional homecoming events this past week, including LipSync and the Laker Homecoming 5K Run/Walk. The Black Student Union (BSU) also held its first-ever Black Affairs Homecoming Concert Friday, Oct. 14 in an effort to add another event option that might be more appealing to GVSU students of color.

The concert featured performances from many Detroit-based musical artists, including rapper Icewear Vezzo, singer Neisha Ne’shae and Nick LaVelle. DJ B-wiz also performed at the event, as well as 1701, a GVSU student rap group whose members are also from Detroit.

“We’re hosting (the concert) because Black Student Union has never done anything like this, and we wanted to do something new,” said Akunna Amadi, BSU vice president.

Brianna Pannell, a BSU member, said the concert was being held to provide students, particularly students of color, with an event that might be more relatable and appealing to them than the official GVSU homecoming events.

“(We) sometimes feel as though the homecoming events that are put on, they don’t represent the student body as a whole,” Pannell said. “Grand Valley doesn’t provide pretty much anything that’s kind of relatable to our culture. (We) feel that they maybe need to take a general census as to what students really want.”

Pannell said BSU wanted to take advantage of available resources to provide students of color with this event.

“(We) feel it’s our divine duty and right to utilize the things such as funding and the spaces here at Grand Valley to host a concert and events that’s appealing to our (culture and demographic),” she said.

The artists for the event were selected because of their potential appeal to concert attendees, as well. The majority of the artists were from Detroit, for example, as were many of the audience members.

“I think that (Icewear Vezzo) appeals to the crowd simply because a lot of us went to high school with him or went to a high school within the vicinity of his high school, and we knew about him from when he first began his rap career,” Pannell said.

While one motivation behind the event was to cater to the interests of students of color, Pannell stressed the concert was open to all GVSU students.

“BSU is here to promote the culture of diversity amongst our campus,” she said. “We promote diversity in all aspects: age, religion, sexual orientation, we promote (diversity) all the way around. (Everyone) is more than welcome to come.”

The concert was free—attendees only had to show their GVSU identification card to get into the Louis Armstrong Theatre, where the event was held.

“We receive funding for it from the Cultural Funding Board here at Grand Valley, so it’s free to get in,” Pannell said.

The event was originally scheduled to happen in the Grand River Room in Kirkhof Center before being moved to the Louis Armstrong Theatre where the artists performed on a stage.

“Originally, we were hoping for it to be concert style, so we wanted people to stand up and enjoy themselves, just have a good time,” Amadi said.

Despite the venue change to an auditorium filled with seating, audience members still got up and danced. Amadi estimated about 250 people attended.

“When you have a great organization, a predominately black or student-of-color organization on campus that provide relatable programs and activities and events, we get a high volume of people simply because it’s relatable, it’s welcoming and it makes us feel more at home,” Pannell said. “And I appreciate Grand Valley just giving us that space to be who we want to be and who we need to be on this campus.”