The BSA, and other black student organizations have organized a study-in for the end of the fall semester. In an attempt to get to 5,000 study hours in the week before exams, the BSA is reminding the student body — and the administration — about how they can affect positive change for students.

According to the president of the BSA, Mario Lemons, the group has never done a study session like this in the past — but we haven’t had a tumultuous, racially-charged semester like this in recent memory, either. Choosing to do it after this semester helps the BSA regain a measure of respect.

Earlier in the year, the BSA was in a position to change attitudes on campus because of the racial incidents on campus. The iron was hot, and the campus, perhaps, was ready to address the issue of race relations at MSU. Then there was the disastrous meeting with MSU administrators, which I and The State News already have addressed.

I thought — and continue to think — that entering a meeting with the university’s administration with “demands” and the mindset that those demands have to be met, was a mistake. A mistake that wiped out a ton of goodwill — and if not goodwill, at least an interest in listening to what they had to say — they had built up with the administration and the student body.

But it’s working its way back into building up positive feelings with the study-in.

I’ve never had a problem with the majority of the BSA’s demands, just the manner in which they were presented.

Yes, the study-in is a not-so-subtle way of calling attention to the underwhelming state of the Multicultural Center in the basement of the Union. Instead of demands, they’re showing the administration — and a chunk of the student population that was willfully ignorant about the state of the multicultural center — how cramped it is for large events.

They’re allowed to play politics and use the study-in to push their agenda of getting the university to pay for a multicultural center it might or might not need and certainly can’t afford.

None of that stops students studying from being a good thing.

So, by making the presentation of why its ideals are still relevant in a manner less like a baseball bat to the head, they’ve got my attention — and I suspect many students feel the same way.

The BSA previously held study events for students throughout the year, but building on the more widely seen success of this one is imperative to help the students that actually need it.

It also shows the BSA working to resolve issues they brought to the administration without its help. According to Lemons, Math 1825 appears to be a problem for black students, so aligning with the Black Graduate Student Association to get tutors year-round means there’s a better chance for students to get the help they need.

That said, I hope the BSA, at least at the end of this semester, keeps some focus on student success. Hopefully, the study-in movement gains momentum and continues next semester. Yes, the study-in can be a way to point out the need for a freestanding multicultural center, but it ultimately should be more about helping African-American students stay at MSU.

The BSA is a student organization; it gets to make its points in the way it think best. However, there’s a fine line between using the finals week study rush to shine a light on a situation at MSU that proves your point and exploiting a large group of students just to score points for the future.

Race still is an issue on campus and in this country. MSU’s student body isn’t as diverse as it could be — and not just in terms of black students. President Barack Obama recently encouraged public universities to be more creative in drawing a diverse student body, something I fully expect people to be up in arms about momentarily.

But by keeping the focus on students trying to succeed in college, rather than on the perceived inequality of a system with no mandate for equilibrium, the BSA will continue to draw students and the administration into a discussion of ideas that can benefit all of MSU.

Lazarus Jackson is the State News opinion writer. Reach him at jacks920@msu.edu.