Students establish first-ever WashU NAACP chapter

| Special Issues Editor

WashU NAACP President Precious Barry (right) and Secretary Bralin Duckett (left) pose in front of Seigle Hall. (Sam Powers | Managing Photo Editor)

After a year of development from student organizers, WashU will have its own chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). This development comes after decreased Black-student enrollment this year following the Supreme Court’s decision to end affirmative action.

The new chapter will be housed under the department of African and African American Studies (AFAS) as an external group, after its founders experienced complications getting approved as an official student group. Sophomore Precious Barry, President and founder, initially tried to make the organization a student club under Student Union (SU), but due to issues with review by Campus Life, shifted to housing the group as part of AFAS. 

With over 2,200 chapters across the country, the NAACP is the nation’s largest civil rights organization, and has been at the forefront of battling racial discrimination, political disenfranchisement, and educational inequality for over a century. 

Barry said her motivation for starting the chapter came from her work in the St. Louis County NAACP chapter and her desire to promote civic engagement at WashU. She wants to create more spaces on campus that support students of color who are struggling with their sense of belonging.

“Being a St. Louis native, coming from a provisionally Black school district to a provisionally white institution, you deal with that feeling of not feeling like you belong,” Barry said. 

Barry mentioned that joining the Association of Black Students (ABS) helped her combat some of the imposter syndrome she experienced at the beginning of her time at WashU. In turn, she hopes the new NAACP chapter will be another space where students are able to exist as their full selves and advocate for necessary change, regardless of their background or political affiliation. 

Barry said ABS and the NAACP chapter plan to collaborate frequently, as both organizations do similar work. 

Sophomore Spencer Snipe, ABS President, said he was excited about the establishment of the NAACP chapter because of what differentiates it from other multicultural organizations. 

“We have so many Black orgs on campus, but the NAACP is very good because it’s mainly civically minded,” Snipe said. “The primary goal is to be engaged in the community, and be engaged in government affairs.”

Barry expressed similar sentiments about the work of the NAACP chapter, pointing to different ways in which the club wants to help members learn about government. 

“We want to make sure that students have the opportunity to meet elected officials [during] our events, get engaged by being in Saint Louis, so [that] they get to see who’s in the community, get to explore, and continue to be a part of the process by being civically engaged,” Barry said.

She also said the NAACP will focus heavily on voter engagement and empowering student leadership.

Gabrielle Weeden — faculty advisor for the NAACP chapter and Community & Program Coordinator for the AFAS department — said this is the first time the department has ever housed an external organization.

Currently, the chapter is unrecognized by SU, because groups must be approved by Campus Life before being voted on by the Activities Committee. As a result, the chapter does not have access to WashU buildings for meetings and cannot appeal for funds from SU Treasury.

Barry said that the NAACP has its own constitution that individual chapters follow, which was in conflict with Campus Life requirements. She did not feel comfortable making any changes to the document the NAACP provided her. 

““Even changing a bylaw or a word in the NAACP constitution in my opinion is silencing the voices of all members— that’s changing a foundational and powerful document. Which would lessen our impact as an organization,” she said. 

Barry hopes that Campus Life, SU, and the NAACP can find a way to compromise with the constitutional conflict and [that] the NAACP chapter can become an official student group, like NAACP chapters at universities nationwide.

Sophomore Varun Vadhera, SU Activities Committee Chair, reiterated that the committee never reviewed the NAACP for approval because the NAACP never got past the review stage by Campus Life.

“If the group is able to provide a constitution that makes it past the initial screening by Campus [Life], the SU Activities Committee would be more than happy to review their application for SU recognition during the next review cycle,” Vadhera said. 

Looking to the future, Barry said that she is excited for the important work that the chapter has ahead. 

“We are grateful that we still have the opportunity to be on campus, and to still make change,” Barry said. 

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