The publication is reproduced in full below:
HONORING THE BLACK STUDENTS' ALLIANCE AT MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
______
HON. ELISSA SLOTKIN
of michigan
in the house of representatives
Friday, February 25, 2022
Ms. SLOTKIN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize a student organization that gives the Black community at Michigan State University a platform to let their voices be heard: The Black Students' Alliance.
Founded in 1967 in the basement of MSU's, then associate professor, Dr. Robert L. Green's home, the Black Students' Alliance was created as a way to voice support for those protesting racial injustice and increase representation of black students on campus. Green's mentee and co-founder, Barry D. Amis, was frustrated that he could only see what seemed to be about 400 black students in a campus population of over 40,000, not at all reflective of Michigan's 10 percent African-American population.
When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4th, 1968, Amis and other members of the Black Students' Association orqanized a protest on MSU's campus. Student groups came together and demanded that they do more to integrate the history and culture of the Black community onto campus. Not only did the students request courses on African American studies, they challenged the university's lack of Black residence hall staff, counselors, and professors. They wanted to be represented. They wanted to be seen. They wanted to be heard.
Today, more than 50 years after its founding, the Black Students' Alliance continues to be the main voice for Black students on MSU's campus. With enrollment for Black students now close to 8 percent of the student population, the BSA's main focus is on supporting academic growth and increasing graduation rates for black students.
I am so proud of the way BSA President Kenneth Franklin, and his board of directors, advocate for and support the black student population by connecting them with the local black community in all aspects of campus life: socially, academically, and through mentorship programs. By focusing their efforts on results-driven actions to create a diverse support system, the Black Students' Alliance is working to redefine the Black experience at Michigan State University.
For its steadfast support for generations of Black students at MSU, and for its lasting contributions to the entire MSU community, I submit the story of the Black Students' Alliance so that it may be remembered forever.
____________________
SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 168, No. 35
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