The event featured vocal, dance and spoken word performances and cultural cuisine. Students were also honored for their work toward mentorship and leadership within the local community.

This year’s theme, “Rosé Palais,” was reflected in the event’s location, a mansion filled with blue, pink, white and orange decor. The banquet featured a dessert station of cupcakes, fruit and cotton candy, and the night was filled with elegance and high energy.

Lauren Millwood, a sophomore majoring in philosophy, politics and law, opened the show with her rendition of The Fugees’ “Killing Me Softly.” Millwood serenaded the crowd as she strummed her guitar under the somber pink light, and followed up the song with a cover of Summer Walker’s “Come Thru.” As she sang, the crowd erupted into applause.

The Black Dance Repertoire graced the stage with dance selections, featuring music from Ciara, Drake and Bhad Bhabie. In the style of hip-hop, dancers gave an enthusiastic performance.

JUMP continued its annual skit, which is acted out by its e-board members. This year’s skit focused on breaking the glass ceiling of Black women in coding. The story followed Jade, a skilled coder who develops an app that connects youth to mentors across the New York City area. Jade experiences many obstacles of breaking into the industry, from struggling to get investors to give her a chance to being betrayed by her best friend. In the end, she prevails and successfully breaks the glass ceiling.

Later, Kendra Gourgue, a sophomore double-majoring in human development and English, ignited the crowd with her poem, “The Kids.”

“Instead, let’s explore the joy of the children that may not be on TV, but are the only children I’ve ever seen filled with promise, hopes so high,” she said. “You can teach anything but you can’t learn that drive because for these kids it’s inside.”

The banquet leads up to JUMP Nation’s annual leadership conference, titled “JUMP-ing Into College: A Pathway to Success,” which provides high school students an opportunity to be exposed to higher education through workshops and forums. The conference will be held on Saturday, Nov. 9.

This year’s show was titled “HBINGCU,” and followed the story of a typical homecoming weekend at a historically black university. The story was divided into different parts of the day as models got ready to enjoy the weekend, and scenes included a pep rally, a halftime show and a football game. The Mandela Room in the University Union, where the event was held, was decorated with vivid green lights and an abundance of multicultural organization banners, which showcased unity.

The opening scene, titled “Wake Up,” showed models beginning their day and getting ready for homecoming events. Models wore pajama pants and silk loungewear designed by Tiamat Fontes as they struck a fierce pose for the camera.

Another scene was dedicated to women of color in business. All of the pieces, which ranged from pantsuits to skirts, were designed by Simone Sullivan, catering to the business casual side of women’s fashion. Although the clothing was meant for a professional environment, many of the pieces were versatile and could be used for nightly outings. Models confidently walked down the runway ready to take on the day, giving women of color a spotlight that deviated from the sexualized images often seen in pop culture.

The halftime show featured performances from Binghamton University’s X-Fact’r Step Team as they engaged in a hard-hitting step battle and the Black Dance Repertoire, which engaged the audience with dances inspired by majorette dancers and featuring music by Beyoncé. In addition to the dancers, a marching band comprised of kids and teenagers from Brooklyn United Music & Arts also performed, breaking into high-energy dances and stick tricks throughout the show.

The high energy from the marching band was contagious and as the night progressed, the audience became invested in the models’ every move.

The football scene featured an all-male cast of color going head-to-head. The clothing in this scene was designed by Jarret Dines and Austin Johnson from their brand Epok. Models sported blue and red tracksuits and athletic shorts as they performed stunts. The segment created a sense of camaraderie and black boy joy as smiles were brought to audiences’ faces.

The closing of the show conveyed the show’s main message. Titled “The Culture,” the last scene demonstrated that even with having descent from Africa in common, we as a community are composed of multifaceted individuals. In this scene, models were able to express their own personalities, walking the runway under different categories. The models got a chance to showcase themselves as opposed to clothing. This scene also catered to the different ethnic identities within the African diaspora for Latinx, African and Caribbean students.

Although we go to a predominantly white Institution, this year’s BSU fashion show reminded all of us that no matter what, we should be proud of our melanated skin. Our community is filled with many talented and multidimensional individuals. We are leaders, creators, artists, game-changers and the future. We will continue to progress and grow as long as we unite and support one another.