College students from all across Indianapolis came together to sing, dance and have a good time. Photo by Mason Buysse.

On March 27, the Black Student Union (BSU) co-hosted a celebrity look-alike contest alongside Indiana University Indianapolis (IU Indy), Marian University and University of Indianapolis (UIndy). The event consisted of seven choreographed lip-sync routines and several impromptu performances from audience members. Celebrity impersonations included Rod Wave, GloRilla, Megan Thee Stallion and more. 

Jayla Myers, a sophomore biology and Spanish double major, serves as the vice president of programming for BSU and helped host the event. Last year, she was the first-year chair for the logistics committee. Myers credited IU Indy for coming up with the idea for the event and inviting the Black student organizations at other universities across Indianapolis.

“We’re in really hard times right now, especially as a community,” Myers said. “We wanted to come together and have an event citywide, across all the BSUs, and [provide] a place for people to express themselves through the music that they listen to day-to-day.”  

Zimmya, a first-year nursing major at UIndy, participated in the event as a performer. She is a member of Let’s Link, an organization serving Black and Brown students at UIndy. After seeing similar events online, she was inspired to replicate them in real life. She also enjoyed working with the other schools. 

“Everyone [was] very welcoming,” Zimmya said. “[They have] a good spirit, good vibe. It was really easy to collaborate and put it all together.”

As far as her performance went, Zimmya’s chosen celebrity look-alike was Rod Wave. She said it was an easy choice to perform her favorite song by her favorite artist. She rated the overall experience a 10 out of 10. 

“This is one of my first events, planning something with other schools,” Zimmya said. “It’s been pretty cool. It seemed hectic at first, but once everybody got their roles of what to do, it became pretty simple.”

Amiia Burnett, a sophomore speech, language and hearing sciences major, will serve as BSU’s communications liaison for the 2026-27 school year. She also participated as a contestant in the celebrity lookalike contest alongside first-year sports media major Amaya Nichols, where they performed as Megan Thee Stallion and GloRilla. 

“I’m glad that we were able to do it,” Burnett said. “It was fun to get our energy out and have these fun, upbeat dances.”

Burnett enjoyed getting to know the students from other universities. 

“I felt very welcome,” Burnett said. “It was a big group of people that got along nicely.” 

Myers is also involved with Butler’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People as the organization’s treasurer and is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

“I love being able to cultivate a community on Butler’s campus,” Myers said. 

With Butler being a predominantly white institution, Myers stated that her favorite part of BSU is trying to make sure the Black student population stays united and builds a comfortable, welcoming community. 

While this is the first celebrity look-alike contest hosted by BSU, there are other events put on annually, such as Kwanzaa and a variety of events during Black History Month. Myers urges Butler students to attend BSU events. 

“People love to say that Butler doesn’t have a Black community or isn’t trying to foster Black community, but you can’t show up to a neighborhood and ask to be a neighbor when you’re not a good neighbor,” Myers said. “You have to show up to events in order to cultivate a community.”

Burnett also agreed that having a Black community on campus is important to her. 

“Being able to be in [Black] spaces, you’re around people that relate to you and understand what it feels like,” Burnett said.