BY LAURYN BECKER
PHOTOS COURTESY DANZEL MAJOR
Whether he’s in the KFHS radio booth or leading a Black Student Union meeting, there’s one thing that remains consistent; Danzel Major’s positive attitude towards helping others at Fort Hays.
Major, a graduate student aiming for a degree in Clinical Mental Health, knows what it’s like to make a difference on a college campus. Through his presidency at BSU, he’s done work to make the organization more widely known, outreach to the community, and educate the campus about Black history, as well as the importance of having this organization on campus.
“BSU is meant to empower and encourage the black students here in Fort Hays and Hays in general. We do community work that focuses on bringing our culture to the city of Hays,” Major said. “This culture is about exposing people who do not normally interact with black people and educating them about us.”
Major firmly believes that since the population of people of color in Hays is low, it is important to reach out to the community and to also make those who are in that percentage feel more confident in their skin.
“This is important because according to the census data 1.05% of Hays is Black. So, we need to expose them to us and our culture instead of them using the media to teach themselves,” Major said. “This means a lot to me because I know how hard it can be to view ourselves in a positive light when the media only sees us as a burden. My hopes are to help black students feel proud of themselves and to empower them to feel comfortable in their skin.”
With February being Black History Month, Major shared that BSU had a Family Feud event where students could compete against each other to see who knew the most about Black history.
“The BSU, along with Student Engagement have done a Family Feud Night and we raised our BSU banner in the Union. We want to branch out this past February to show our culture, so we have some things planned for the rest of the semester,” Major said.
Another big part of Major’s time at Fort Hays has been spent at the KFHS, the campus radio station. Through his time at KFHS he has built up the program and manages the station.
“Well, I have been doing radio for 10 years so I am used to college life. I enjoy it because I use music as a mood adjuster and having that be part of my job helps me stay calm during stressful moments,” Major said.
Another important part of Major’s college career has also been his time as an Emergency Responder. Through this experience, he has gained many leadership skills and ways to deal with stress.
“I would say my time as an Emergency responder has had more of an impact on my college career because of learning how to deal with stress. It taught me about teamwork and responsibility,” Major said. “The skills I learned as an Emergency Responder has helped with many obstacles I have faced here in college.”
Major shares that what he is most passionate about in life is critical thinking and the art of a conversation.
“I am passionate about critical thinking, I find having conversations that are uncomfortable can help both parties become educated on topics they may be ignorant about,” he said.
For Major, to be a Tiger is to be open to change and critically think.
“Being a Tiger means having the ability to critically think and being open to change. Having passion and using that passion to bring people together,” Major said. “That’s what I think it means to be a Tiger.”
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