Through education, African American Celebratory hopes to unite student activism on campus.
The group plans to hold workshops across campus to help student activists meet and educate them on how to exercise their voice to the greater campus community. When the different student groups work together, their voices only grow stronger, said Quinton Robinson, a co-chairman for the group.
Activism can simply be setting a good example, said Camilla Nelson, a co-chairwomen. It can be something very extreme or it could be something very subtle.
"Activism is just simply being proactive in whatever cause or subject or issue that an individual feels passionate about," Nelson said.
Jahshua Smith, a journalism senior and member of MRULE, said people and groups around campus need to work together. MRULE is a program that brings people from diverse backgrounds to live together on campus.
"There is strength in numbers, and without having people by your side to help out, there's no advancements to be made," Smith said.
The group, which grew out of the Black Student Alliance in 2001, celebrates the narrowing of the gap between graduation rates of students of color and graduation rates of students overall.
Robinson said when Celebratory formed, there was about a 30 percent difference in graduation rates between students of color and overall. Today, there is nearly a 17 percent gap.
Robinson said one of the issues facing the black community is misinformation. He said students at MSU have options to learn about other cultures.
"But it's so difficult to change people's perspectives when we were all brought up in our own school districts not getting that kind of cultural education," Robinson said.
He said the passage of Proposal 2, which banned affirmative action in the state, was not going to stop students of color from continuing to excel in higher education.
"We are going to move forward, we believe in diversity," Robinson said. "We believe people should share their opinions across race, class and gender lines, and we will continue to promote that."
On May 4, the group will honor the narrowing of the gap at 8 p.m. in the Auditorium.
The event is free, and registration forms are available in the Multicultural Center in the Union.
