THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE RETURNS TO NORTHWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY
By Julia Barry
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People now has an established chapter at Northwestern State University. President Chantasia Grasty and the executive board of NAACP were the moving force behind the establishment of this chapter.
The chapter is currently functioning with bi-weekly Wednesday meetings in the President’s Room of the Friedman Student Union. The current executive board consists of the following members: Grasty, First Vice President LaDarius Early, Second Vice President Patrick Thomas, Secretary Temberlee Mallet, Treasurer Brandon Eckles, Historian Brian Cook and Parliamentarian Alex Soniat. The first NAACP meeting was held on Feb 5. During the meeting, the board focused on chapter dues and the business side of the organization. The second half of the meeting was spent on an activity to promote political awareness.
Members of the NAACP were given two unlabeled political parties and the views each party held. The members were told to stand in front of the party whose ideals they agreed with. The political parties were Democrat and Republican. Some of the members political ideologies matched their political parties, however, there was a large portion of the members who had beliefs from one party, however, they were registered as the opposing party. The exercise was meant to challenge students to know about political parties and where they fell on the political spectrum.
The mission of NAACP at Northwestern State University is, “to educate the masses and bring out that message to the students of NSU and the community. We want to inform every one of the problems affecting minorities on this campus and in the community, which is a goal of improving the status of all people in the nation, the world and your community,” Grasty said.
The NAACP is a registered organization because of the efforts of their executive board. The executive board has worked to get NAACP established on campus for the past year. The endeavor began when Matthew Miles approached Grasty the previous school year about reinstating NAACP, according to Grasty. Grasty saw, “there was never really a club where every student can meet and talk about socioeconomic awareness, political undercurrents of our time” she said.
Throughout 2013, the executive board worked hard. Grasty first contacted the NAACP about chartering a chapter at Northwestern State University. The first step to chartering a chapter was to get letters that would allow the chapter to be chartered. Then the chapter designated Dr. Marcus Jones as their advisor, according to Brian Cook, the historian of NAACP. The next step they took was to make NAACP a registered student organization on Northwestern’s campus. The board worked closely with Yonna Pasch, the director of student activities at Northwestern State University.
The members of the executive board revised the previous constitution of the NAACP, given to them by Pasch, Thomas said.After the constitution was revised, the entire board reviewed the constitution to ensure that the it was working effectively. Once all of the paperwork had been filled out to become an organization at Northwestern, they filled out paperwork to become a collegiate chapter of NAACP, according to Grasty. The executive board of NAACP had to be in constant contact with state and national levels of NAACP, Cook said.
The NAACP chapter at Northwestern State University obtained its charter this spring, however, to keep their charter they have to maintain a minimum membership of 25 due paying members, according to Cook. Dues are $10 per member Grasty said. The board is currently participating in an event called Little Dresses for Africa. The project involves collecting pillow cases to make dresses for young girls in Africa. NAACP is also planning an awards banquet for members of organizations that are extremely involved on campus, Karaoke Nights and an event called Take a Side Tuesdays.
NAACP meetings are held bi-weekly on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. in the President's Room in the Freidman Student Union. Students interested in joining the NAACP need to send an email containing their name, mailing address, email address and phone number, to [email protected]. Then the student must attend the next general meeting and pay $10 in dues. Members of NAACP are required to participate in NAACP events, attend general meetings and be active in one of the three committees: social, service or fundraising, Grasty said.
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