Incoming IU Northwest Black Student Union Officers

IU Northwest Black Student Union is more than a student club

Contributed By: The 411 News

Todd Deloney’s voice rose over all others when incoming officers for IU Northwest’s Black Student Union were sworn in Friday evening.

“To hear the goals and objectives of this group of kids fires me up. It’s uplifting,” Deloney said.

The BSU End of Year Ceremony included recognition for Deloney, who started the Black Student Union (formerly the Black Caucus) on the campus in 1990 and began a protest to have the university closed in observance of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday.

In 1991, then-Chancellor Peggy Elliott announced the campus would close to observe the holiday going forward. Today, all Indiana University campuses close for the Dr. King holiday.

Outgoing president Anthony Hudson’s year-end review captured the mission of the Black Student Union – “to empower our members.”

“We had the privilege to work beyond campus walls to build powerful relations in the city of Gary with the Mayor’s Office, with the Black Labor Project, with Sojourner Truth House, with My Brothers Keeper. We partnered with Flourish Community Hub in Gary’s Love Your Block campaign,” Hudson said.

“BSU is more than a student club; we are a movement, a force of change,” Hudson said. “We are not here just for the black community, but to serve all students at IU Northwest and uplift the city of Gary.”

Incoming president India Smith, a biology and chemistry major on a pre-med track also championed the BSU mission as a force for change. “I don’t want our Black Student Union to be a place where we just talk about change, but live it. This year we will focus on 3 pillars – empowerment, education, and community.”

Smith brings to the student union a strong history of organizational affiliations. “I have been in the NAACP since I was about 10 years-old and a member of the National Council of Negro Women since sixteen. I led multiple organizations in high school and I’m doing it now in college,” she said.

This was the first BSU End of Year Ceremony and it will return next year, said Antoine Hawkins, the university’s staff adviser for BSU.

“I told them not to be just a small group of individuals on campus; go out into the campus, into the city, and northwest Indiana. Have a goal of what you can do to better the community,” Hawkins said. “And they did it this year with the partnerships on campus and in the city of Gary. They have a lot more plans. I can’t wait to get to work.”


Incoming IU Northwest Black Student Union Officers – President India Smith, (l-r), Events Coordinator Elizabeth Downey, Vice President Brandi O’Neal, Todd Deloney, Treasurer Isaiah Gibson, Public Relations Director Troy Graves, and Secretary Tanaya Posey.

Story Posted:04/22/2025