McLean’s Black Student Union (BSU) is hosting its first ever cookout in collaboration with Langley High School on March 6 at 5 p.m.

“[McLean’s BSU] decided to hold the joint cookout with Langley because it seemed very fun to host a community event where people can enjoy a taste of black/soul food,” senior BSU outreach officer Jaren Tennort said. “McLean isn’t known for its black population, so I thought it would be exciting to establish ourselves by bringing the community together with food [since] a cookout really catches people’s interests.”

The event which will be held at Langley High School, serves as a platform for students from diverse backgrounds to come together, share experiences, and celebrate their cultural heritage. Attendees can expect an array of classic cookout dishes to be present at the event from macaroni and cheese, baked beans and pecan pie to pound cake, sweet tea and fried chicken. In addition, the event will include music and a variety of games such as Family Feud or Black History Jeopardy.

“The cookout is going to be decorated with some of the Pan-African colors such as black, red, green and yellow,” Tennort said. “[The club also] created a poster for people from each school to sign their names, with Langley in green writing and McLean in red writing of course.”

The organization and planning of the event began in late January as members of both schools’ BSUs united to arrange the cookout’s details and manage which aspects of the event each school would coordinate to ensure its success.

“At first, Langley reached out to us proposing the idea back in late January. We quickly agreed and began planning a bunch throughout February,” Tennort said. “We [organized it such that] Langley would bring plasticware, while McLean would focus more on decorations and such. Overall, it was very fun to get to do something like this for the first time. I think [the event] will go pretty well and I hope [McLean BSU] continues hosting this in the future.”

With the anticipated aroma of sizzling barbecue filling the air and the sounds of laughter and music echoing throughout the venue, the cookout will provide a welcoming and inclusive space for students to connect and promote solidarity in the school community.

“The cookout serves as a fun community event where people can hang out and eat good food together,” Tennort said. “Similar to International Night, we wanted to have the cookout as an event where we can share our taste in food with the McLean-Langley area. The overall purpose of the cookout is to really contribute to the considerably diverse student body that our school has. We want people to enjoy good African American food as it truly should be enjoyed: as a group.”