MBSA Bounces Back

In fall 2011, a freshman English major attended his first Multicultural Biracial Student Association meeting. As the semester progressed, he became more active in the organization and ended his first semester with the Diversity Feast and Film event, which celebrates cross-cultural collaboration. The event attracted 100 guests and seemed to promise a successful future for MBSA. When the freshman returned to the organization in spring 2012, he noticed that it completely changed. MBSAs leaders began to disappear and its members stopped attending events and meetings. Without support and leadership, the organization began to vanish.

lot of positions filled on the e-board, he said. The lack of multiple leadership positions led to the president becoming overwhelmed with tasks. After losing her members and leaders, she also left from the organization. The remaining members attempted to reach out to her and her friends on Facebook, but never received a response. At that moment they realized that they were in control of MBSAs future. Pryor decided that maintaining MBSAs tradition was important, even though it lacked support. The organization continued to host its annual Mixed Madness Month events while the remaining members began to strategize for the next semester. Multicultural Involvement and Community Advocacy, a unit within the Division of Student Affairs, has been a key factor in MBSAs return to campus. MICA usually assigns a graduate assistant to provide support to MBSA, but recently hired a full-time employee to help the organization. Naliyah Kaya, coordinator for Multiracial and Multiethnic Student Involvement and Advocacy, contributes to MBSAs planning and attends some meetings to support the organization. Naliyah is helping redefine MBSA, Pryor said. She is very effective in strategizing ways to get us back on the map. MICA featured the organization at their table for the First Look Fair and reported that many students gained an interest in MBSA. As for Pryor, he began to take seminars to learn about finance and how to create proposals to benefit MBSA. Recognizing his effort, the other members voted him to be the treasurer for the organization.

Laura Wood, left, and Liz Achaibar prepare for the Diversity Feast and Film. Photo by Michelle Lopez-Mullins Alexander Pryor, now a junior communication major, is one of three MBSA e-board members who are trying to revive the organizations presence on campus. Alongside Jade Johnson and Carrie Wolfaord, Pryor sets out to return the organization to its prior state. One of the reasons why leadership left was that there werent a

In spring 2014, MBSA hopes to return to their initial state on campus. The organization will host its Mixed Madness Month and an event guest speaker next semester. Pryor plans on collaborating with BSU or the NAACP to host a general body meeting, which will discuss mixed race in media. I hope the students enjoy what we have in store for next semester, he said. If we can get them to attend a few events, they will realize how much we love our organization. Two years later, Pryor is just as adamant about MBSA as he was when entering the University for the first time.