The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, an organization rooted in over 100 years of history in the United States, now has a foothold at Iowa State.

The new student chapter, recently recognized on March 7 as an official student organization at Iowa State, will seek to provide opportunities for all students.

“Everyone’s free to join the organization, no matter who you are or what your background is. The NAACP doesn’t discriminate based on race, ethnicity or anything like that,” said Jessica Avant, NAACP Iowa/Nebraska State Conference president and senior in political science at Iowa State.

Given the early stages of the student chapter, planning and preparations remain in the works to prepare for the fall semester when the operations of the chapter will be in full swing.

“We’re still in our infancy. We plan to work over the summer to work on something we’ll propose in the fall to incoming and current members,” said Hannah McKeever, treasurer for the organization and junior in journalism and mass communication at Iowa State, in reference to the organization’s plan of action.

In terms of what the organization will aim to achieve, a balance of awareness and action is sought.

“I believe it will be a good mix [of awareness and action]. There are some things we will only be able to raise awareness to. If it’s something dealing with AIDS, for example, the best thing we can do is raise awareness,” Avant said.

On a more active level, Avant mentioned a possible “legislative day of action where we all go to the capitol to talk to legislators and try to lobby them to a course of action or enlist something to get on the ballot and try to persuade people to vote for that initiative.”

Outside of raising awareness and action to pertinent issues, the ISU student chapter also lends itself to students seeking leadership opportunities.

“If you’re prepared to be in a leadership role and you want to take action, right now is the best time to get involved because we’re still evolving as an organization,” said Tiara Mays, vice president for the organization and senior in psychology and sociology.

Mays said that half of the executive board is leaving.

Due to the pending vacancy of several positions, students are encouraged to apply for leadership roles as soon as possible.

“The elections [for executive board positions] will be the week before Dead Week, and every position is open to run for, with the exception of president. We’ll need a secretary, treasurer, vice president, junior vice president,” said Christine DeCoudreaux, secretary for the organization and senior in journalism and mass communication at Iowa State.

Whether or not a leadership role is a student’s aspiration, Avant insisted that students have opportunities to get involved on either smaller or larger scales.

“Something [to be offered] is tutoring students, something simple as that. We also do leadership training. There are so many opportunities and support systems, so not only do you get to help others, but you get to help yourself in the process,” Avant said.