Like Jenkins, A’shya Zander said she has been
passionate about helping others from a young age. Zander is a
communication and science disorders major and earned a badge in
advanced American Sign Language. She fills her time with two jobs,
where she works with people with autism spectrum disorder,
attention-deficit hyperactive disorder and other disorders, and is
also the president of the Black Student Union.
Zander knows what it’s like to find your people and a
sense of purpose at Grand Valley, and now as president of BSU, she’s
creating opportunities for Black students to find community and belonging.
“I tell a lot of first-year students that. You have to
find your people,” said Zander, reflecting on how she found her
community. “I met the right people, and they pointed me in the right
direction. I like to be that person, you know? So I got involved. I
wanted to do that for others.”
For Zander, Black History Month is just as much about
education as it is about celebration and community. She and others
have discovered creators on social media apps who teach their
followers about everything from historical figures to aspects of
Black history that she didn’t know.
Recently, Zander found a series of videos on TikTok
that explored Tutnese, a secret language created by enslaved peoples
during a time when they were not permitted to learn how to read or
write. While formally considered a dead language, many continue to
share about and even learn Tutnese, keeping the history and
tradition alive.
“I think my mom told me about it when I was little, but
now that I'm older, I get to really learn more about it. I think
social media is really great for that,” Zander noted. “This is a
time to educate about Black culture, beyond what was taught in school.”