Ask Sylvia Bullock about her involvement in the WSU community and you may not get a word in edgewise for several
minutes. The main motivation for Bullock’s enormous investment of time and effort is simply to make WSU the best it can be.
Bullock pours her energy into her students as an advisor for WSU’s Office of Multicultural Student Services. She helps build community and camaraderie through the Black Faculty Staff Association, among many other pursuits.
Living across the country from where she grew up, WSU has become home over the past four-plus years. And she’s found a group of colleagues in BFSA that have provided friendship and encouragement in many areas of life.
“I went to the first meeting in 2016 and it was just really good to have conversations with people who looked like me,” Bullock says. “I think we’re always seeking familiarity and to be around people that you’re comfortable with, and to have people to bounce ideas off of. For me, it’s a reliable group of friends and a good support system.”
Bullock is no stranger to college campuses. Her father Sylvester Bullock serves as assistant director for Virginia State University’s Trojan Explosion Marching Band and Sylvia grew up near the historically black land-grant school in Petersburg, Virginia. She attended the University of Delaware and was thrilled to join another land-grant institution when she ventured across the country to WSU.
“I took a leap of faith, but I like being in Pullman,” Bullock says. “I’ve had great opportunities to grow and figure out what I’m passionate about.”
One of the main goals of BFSA is to recruit and retain faculty and staff of color. The group regularly meets with University leadership to discuss how they can advance their goals and increase opportunities for underrepresented groups.
The Excellence in Leadership Lectures are one of BFSA’s signature events each spring – the 2020 speaker will be announced soon. And the inaugural “Cougs Got Talent” event was a big hit last year during Dad’s Weekend.
Among her other volunteer roles, Bullock helps groom the next generation of leaders by serving as an advisor for the WSU Black Women’s Caucus student group. She’s also involved with this month’s Visionaries Inspiring Black Empowered Students (VIBES) Conference, during which 170 African American high school students will visit WSU for a weekend of programming designed to inspire them toward their educational and leadership goals.
Bullock is even building bridges across campuses as a founding member of Crimson and Gold, a partnership between staff and faculty of color at WSU and the University of Idaho that is tackling barriers for underrepresented groups in higher education.
Her involvement keeps her calendar full, but Bullock wouldn’t have it any other way.
“There are no off days,” she says. “We want to give back to the community and just bring people together.”
For more information about BFSA, email Bullock or JJ Oliver.