America honors Black History for one month each February, but UCA’s NAACP members celebrate the achievements that people of color have accomplished and reflect on the past year round.
The “National Association for Advancement of Colored People” (NAACP) was founded Feb. 12, 1909 and is the first and most well-known civil rights organization in the nation, according to the national website.
UCA’s NAACP currently has 26 members and is led by senior Kaleb Hadley, this year’s NAACP campus president.
To become a member students must pay a $20 membership fee, which will include a T-shirt. Members also must attend meetings and be active during the programs and fundraisers put on by the organization.
“We encourage members to come out and be involved,” Hadley said, “We don’t just want T-shirt wearers.”
The most active members are rewarded with the opportunity to be sent to the Southwestern Black Student Leadership Conference hosted by Texas A&M University.
So far the group has held two poetry slams and was involved UCA’s Silent MLK walk as well as Alpha Phi Alpha and Student Propagation of Black Culture’s banner competition.
“This year we are having a timeline game night,” Hadley said, “ We basically travel back in time and have a competition over who can get the most events in history correct.”
Junior Kennedye Hervey said her favorite part of being involved in the NAACP is the community service.
“We have done a lot at local nursing homes. We also have breast cancer awareness programs, along with police brutality and ‘Know your Rights’ programs,” she said.
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