Campus & Community

Senior plans event to inspire young black women in Denver

Senior Brooklyn Batey organized a new summit at DU for young African-American women in Denver. Photo courtesy of DU Athletics

Senior Brooklyn Batey organized a new summit at DU for young African-American women in Denver. Photo courtesy of DU Athletics

Senior Brooklyn Batey, a defender on the University of Denver women’s lacrosse team, is more than just a Division I athlete. Over the last year, Batey has been working hard to organize a new summit at DU for young African-American women in Denver. The summit, Black Women Lead, Empower, Aspire and Dedicate (BW-LEAD), will be held from 8 a.m.–3 p.m. Feb. 12 at the Merle Catherine Chambers Center for the Advancement of Women on campus.

“The program is an initiative to bring high school females who identify as black or African-American to DU’s campus for a day,” says Batey, who has a double major in psychology and sociolegal studies. “The mission of BW-LEAD is to create leaders in our community who have the skills to empower and educate other young black women in Denver.”

The summit is built around a series of different workshops that will teach leadership and empowerment — topics the participants may not be able to talk about in their own environments.

“We want the girls talking and sharing their ideas.” Batey says. “We’re looking for girls who shine in the classroom and are true leaders in school. The goal of BW-LEAD is to create a pipeline to DU for young black women in Denver. We want them to see the environment and choose DU, but most importantly, to go to college and bring what they learned in the summit back to their communities and schools.

“We’re interested in girls who might need a little help and are maybe not getting the help that they need,” Batey explains. “It is ultimately up to the school counselors to choose who comes to the summit, but we’re open to anyone.”

The summit will also include a “mocktail hour,” where BW-LEAD will bring in African-American professional women from around Denver to meet and socialize with the girls, in hopes of finding each of them a mentor to help them through high school and into college.

“There has been a black male initiative at DU for years,” Batey says. “I thought, ‘Why isn’t there one for women?’ So I started one. What really inspired me was when my brother was applying for college; it was so much easier for a black man to get college scholarships than it was for a black woman. There are fewer programs for women, and there were not a lot of options for me. I want to help give young women more opportunities, and show them what it means to be a strong leader.”

 

 

 

2 Comments

Leave a Reply to Regina Coley Cancel

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*