Aaron Johnson – General Assignment Reporter
The Southern Connecticut State University branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has striven to follow the organization’s mission statement: “To ensure political, economical, educational and social equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination throughout its years on campus.”
“We spread awareness about different political, educational, economic, and social issues. We also try to push equality in those areas between all races,” said Jess Fort.
Fort, the chair of press and publicity for the NAACP, is a transfer student that said she got involved with the NAACP through several friends that she knew and after going to a few meetings decided to join.
“When I transferred here, I knew some friends in the organization and I went to a few meetings and I joined after that,” said Fort. “I had to give a speech to get my position. It was very nerve-wracking. I had to talk about my past and why I would be a good candidate. Anyone who was a paid member of the organization voted after the speeches were given and that’s how I got it.”
During weekly meetings, the group will discuss topics that are relevant to the Southern community, the African American community, and the New Haven community. Fort said that a goal for the organization is to become more involved both on and off campus.
“The goals that we have for this semester and the rest of the year is that we really want to become more active on campus, as well as, off campus in the New Haven community,” said Fort. “We really want to get our name out there and really want to try to work on our mission. We also want to get our body a bit bigger and get more members to come out to our meetings.”
Junior Jasmine James, public health major from Middletown, Conn., joined the NAACP this semester and said that the group has a much more diverse population then people would normally think.
“A lot of people don’t know this, but our NAACP organization group, and in our meetings it is very diverse,” said James. “We have a lot of different people from pretty much everywhere and we talk about a lot of different things. We really talk about anything that goes on in the world and we all can tie it back to something that relates to us.”
Although the organization may not have the numbers that it wants, both James and Fort say that the bonds that are created between the members continues to be strong.
“When people think of NAACP they think it’s so serious,” said James. “And we are very serious about what we do and the message that we try to get out. But we really do have a lot of fun when we’re with each other. I’ve made a lot of new friends since joining. People I didn’t think I would be friends with if I didn’t join NAACP.”
While the organization – which meets every Monday at 1 p.m. in the student center – continues to get the word out to potential members, it’s current members perpetuate the services of the NAACP. Fort
said that she enjoys being a part of the organization because it teaches her so much about her history.
“I wanted to join to basically learn more about my history,” said Fort. “I didn’t exactly think I was going to be a part of it because I didn’t know too much about my history. But to me it’s a learning experience. I’m learning things and it’s opening up a lot of opportunities for me to meet prestigious black people from the community and basically from the world. It’s a great opportunity that I am thankful for and that I appreciate.”
