NAACP chapter to get charter

The University's five-month-old chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People will receive an official charter from the organization's national college coordinator today, and members of the chapter say the organization's future is full of potential. According to the NAACP's National College Coordinator Michael Nelson, the organization's national board officially granted the University's chapter of the organization a charter in February. Nelson added that an official charter grants the University's chapter voting privileges within the NAACP on national policy and electing board members. Nelson said that to receive a charter, students at a college or university must show that they identify "with the objectives and the aims of the NAACP." According to the chapter's president, College sophomore Bill Gray, the organization has accomplished a great deal in its few months of existence, and will "hit the ground running" in September with activities and programming. Gray said the campus chapter was established with the purpose of being "a diverse organization which deals with on-campus issues as well as off-campus issues." "It is not a specifically African-American organization," Gray said. "The NAACP by charter is an equal opportunity organization." Harold Haskins, director of academic support services and faculty advisor to the chapter, said he thinks the new chapter has the potential to serve as a catalyst for change at the University in coming years. "This is a much-needed student organization which is carrying on the traditional values of the NAACP," Haskins said. "It's going to have a strong bridging effect between the University and the Philadelphia community." "Our focus is on the West Philadelphia minority community, and linking that community to the community on campus," Membership Committee Chairperson and College freshman Carol Williams said. In its five months of existence, the chapter has brought speakers to campus, including former Congressman William Gray and has interacted with the Veterans Administration Hospital, local minority businesses and Philadelphia public schools. In the future, the group has plans to apply for Student Activities Council recognition, as well as a seat on the University's United Minorities Council. College senior and former Black Student League President Jessica Dixon said she thinks the University's chapter of the NAACP fills a current void in campus activism and involvement. "I think [the University chapter of the NAACP] is a branching off which is needed in the black community and the Penn community as a whole," Dixon said.