[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 35 (Friday, February 25, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E171]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   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.

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