It's as much fun as MTV and twice as unpredictable: the Black Students Association's version of "Singled Out."

Nancy A. Redd '03 is looking around the Quincy House Junior Common Room at her fellow BSA members, some of whom are shocked at her first-round decision to eliminate all basketball-lovers. Her choice leaves one man standing: chess champion Shearwood "Woody" McClelland '00. The crowd laughs. Some hoot, "Woody!" The two hug, and the audience gives voice to a collective, "Awwww..."

The mood in the room is congenial, light and social--which is exactly how BSA president Alicia E. Johnson '01 wants it. In theming this year "Rebuilding Harvard's Black Community," she and her board are getting the BSA in touch with its social side.

At the end of Fraser's tenure, Johnson, the only student in recent history to lead the group as a junior, says she's "trying to get people to hang out together."

If the beginning of this year is any indication, Johnson and her board are successfully refocusing BSA's attention on social events, while maintaining BSA traditions.

Her predecessor, Dionne A. Fraser '99, took an energetic, whirlwind-style approach, leading the group to sponsor a large number of events, including collaborations with other University organizations such as the Kennedy School of Government's Institute of Politics. And people attended BSA events last year, Johnson says--but the faces of attendees were changing all the time.

"We did so many events last year," Johnson says. "We lost a little quality...People weren't invested."

Under Johnson's leadership, the group has rediscovered the value of House events, instituting several new activities aimed at recreating a sense of community. Monthly BSA House activities have included karaoke, Playstation games, card games and movie viewings.