The American Indian Student Union was unanimously voted into the Minority Rights Coalition Sunday night, joining the ranks of six other organizations that serve minority groups on Grounds.
"It's been something that we've wanted to do for two years now, and we were wondering why we weren't a part of it," AISU President Jessica McCauley said.
Currently, AISU is a small group of about seven to eight core members. For the past three years, the union has been working to organize itself and reach a level of stability, McCauley said, to allow the group to reach out to the University community at large.
The Minority Rights Coalition, which formed nine years ago as an umbrella organization for minority groups at the University, advocates to create more opportunities for such students at the University. The member organizations represent not only racial minorities but also other groups that may be marginalized, and the coalition is comprised of the Asian Student Union, Black Student Alliance, Feminism is for Everyone, Latino Student Alliance, Middle Eastern Leadership Council and Queer Student Union. With the exception of MELC, which joined MRC two years ago, all of these organizations were founding members.
The coalition had worked with AISU before the group officially joined the coalition, creating a strong relationship between the two organizations, MRC Chair Heba Tellawi said. Then a few weeks ago, the group approached MRC for membership. After filling out an application and undergoing interviews, MRC voted to include the AISU as a member, Tellawi said.
"We hope to help them with their initiatives, advocating on behalf of American Indians and to help with their outreach efforts," Tellawi said,\nMcCauley said AISU joined MRC to find greater support for the University's American Indian community.
"We needed an advocate because we're a very small group on Grounds," McCauley said. "The MRC is a good umbrella organization that we can push general awareness through."
McCauley also cited a recent incident as motivation for the group's decision to join MRC.
In 2009, when a fraternity threw a party with a "Cowboys and Indians" theme, at which many attendees dressed up in costumes portraying American Indian stereotypes, AISU worked with MRC to educate the Greek and University communities about American Indian dress, traditions and culture.
Beyond the University, however, AISU also plans to expand into the surrounding Charlottesville area by forming relations with the eight American Indian tribes that reside in Virginia, particularly the Monacan tribe whose historical territory falls within the University's borders.
"We try to collaborate with them and the Native American community that is not just at U.Va., but its surrounding areas as well," McCauley said.
This Saturday, for example, AISU will head to Rappahannock for an annual powwow, which will feature traditional dancing, crafts and food on tribal land.
AISU also hopes to help area high-school students in the American Indian community achieve their higher education goals.
"We're trying to spread awareness about [the] Virginia Indian pre-college outreach initiative that is a collaboration between U.Va,, Wiliam & Mary and Virginia Tech college workshops in the summer, where we go to tribes and spread awareness about how to apply to college, pay for college and fill out [financial aid forms]," McCauley said. "We want to make the University a home away from home for American Indian students"
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