Sophomore finds leadership fits her to a T

Hearing early this fall that a sophomore is the president of the Black Student Union causes hesitation.

Doesn’t that mean they got elected last year when they were a freshman? Did that mean they got drafted because no one else wanted the job?

While this might be an expected knee-jerk reaction, it couldn’t be further from the truth. T. Hardy was just obviously the right person for the position. And now she’s proving it. 

Because she went to a high school where there were few other Black females in the classroom, Hardy was determined to get involved with the cultural aspects of higher education as soon as she started college. Shortly after joining the union, she began speaking up with ideas at meetings, and by March, was asked to join the board of directors as treasurer.

“All my life, I’ve been in a white-majority school,” Hardy said. “It takes a big toll because when you’ve been that way your whole life and get around more Black people, there’s an amount of judgment that gets cast upon you because you don’t talk or act or do the same things that kids who maybe were raised around more Black people do.”

As an example, friends refer to musicians and make cultural references that are lost on her. The friends laugh good-naturedly, but to Hardy, it’s a hole in her life she’s eager to fill.

“As a kid, it was very hard because it was like, ‘Darn, I’m not knowing anything,’ and it made me stray away farther and farther,” she said. “When I came to college, I was going to do something about it.”

Because of the possibility of being laughed at, it takes courage to ask what you don’t know about that everyone else assumes you do. But Hardy is fearless that way.

“She has lots of ideas for events and wants to know how far student organizations can push the needle to bring students together,” said Cicelle Beemon, program assistant at the Purdue University Fort Wayne Women’s Center and the Black Student Union advisor. “College is a space where a student can utilize their talents and skills to bring people together and bring awareness. Her mindset and vision for pulling people together and speaking to the indifferences are definitely needed for the organization. I know she’ll make great strides because of her drive.”

Though she’s just 19, Hardy already has several career options — and it’s not hard to envision her one day becoming a diplomat. Mostly the result of a year she spent as a high school exchange student in Japan, she’s taking the Japanese Language Proficiency Test in December. After that, she’ll decide between Greek, Korean, or Arabic as her next foreign language to master.

She’s already writing an origin story using all the languages she knows, verbal, written, and performance.

Also musically gifted as a producer and mix engineer, Hardy has also been working to get as much experience as she can playing the piano and guitar, and behind the mic as a singer. Her plan is to perform later this year. 

Immediately, she’s working on recruiting and encouraging her fellow union board members to think creatively about events. Their first attempt is the “BSU Spooky Night” on Friday at the Hyatt Place, 111 W. Washington Center Road. Costumes are required, and there’s a $5 entry fee. Snacks and a live DJ are included with the price of admission. 

“The purpose of the spooky night is, of course, to do something fun for Halloween, but to also celebrate our culture — and how we throw down at parties,” said Chris Wimbley, union secretary. “Anyone is welcome!”

In a nutshell, that’s the focus of Hardy’s goal in recruiting new union members, hopefully finding others with the same passion so they can grow together. She doesn’t have a three-year plan but does have a vision she aspires to as part of exploring what the union can become — and also who she is.

“My No. 1 goal is to make sure that by the end of the year, any student who participated in the Black Student Union can say, ‘Hey we did something, and we got to have some fun, no matter what it was or who it was with,’” Hardy said. “That would make me happy.”