On the Up & Coming; Black Faculty & Staff Organization

Dr. Adrienne Gosselin Photo Credit: Jalen Hobson

The Black Faculty and Staff Organization (BFSO) at Cleveland State University (CSU) has been in operation for decades. The organization serves as a bastion of inclusivity, peace, and connectivity within CSU. Originally, BFSO was formed to create a safe space where Black members of CSU faculty and staff could interact with one another.

"It’s an organization that I always saw as advocacy for the community," Adrienne Gosseline Ph.D. said. Gosselin has been a professor employed with CSU for more than 30 years. She spoke about her experiences within the organization. With much respect to her decades of experience within BFSO, Gosselin notes that the organization kept her connected to her Black peers, being the only Black faculty member in English at the time. 

"For me it was community," she said. "It was a chance to meet other Black people on campus. You were in your department [and] you just don’t have a chance to make these social connections." BFSO provided Gosselin with access to what was a divided network of Black professionals on CSU’s campus, and in 2025, she plans to use BFSO to extend that network further. 

Gosselin’s interaction within the organization led her to become president. Although it has been a great way for her to connect with peers, she plans to allocate more resources towards student support. A shift in focus from faculty and staff to supporting students could prove to be a beneficial route for the organization to take. Promoting scholarships, such as the Wanda Coleman scholarship, can elevate Black students, and assist in keeping CSU equitable. 

There is also an element of mentorship which Gosselin believes can be imparted onto students who participate in student organizations. This mentorship goes both ways as Gosselin believes that there is knowledge amongst the youth at CSU that BFSO would help to elevate as well as benefit from. 

Gosselin made sure to mention the importance of a diverse population among the faculty and staff at CSU. "Every organization was affected by Covid," she said. "It feels odd, but three years later, we’re just rebuilding. Even the university itself, we all need to [take] different approaches, and we need everyone’s voice." 

The rebuild led to BFSO anticipating change in the new year. "I think this is a new direction, and we’re really at a very new place, and it’s kind of exciting."