GW’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People called for stronger ties between minority students and professors at a reception Tuesday.
The GW chapter, which received its charter in February, is in its first year of activity. GW chapter President Erika Emeruwa said the reception is representative of the program’s potential to bring together faculty and minority students, who may go years without ever having a minority professor.
“Until my junior year, I only knew of African-American teachers through my friends having them for professors,” said Emeruwa, who eventually sought out an African-American teacher and met with him on her own time.
The reception included professors from a diverse group of departments, such as American studies, English and marketing.
Jim Miller, a professor of English and American studies and director of Africana studies at GW, came to the reception to support his students involved with the NAACP, as well as to support the idea of a closer student-professor relationship.
“Anytime you have a large university, there is potential for alienation, and anything you can do to overcome it is worthwhile,” Miller said.
“The time is good for you to really make a difference,” said Robert Cannaday, a representative from Multicultural Student Services, the event’s co-sponsor, as he addressed Tuesday’s reception. “We’re here to give you all the support and encouragement we can, so that we are able to reach out to the student community.”
Freshman Nicholas Wiggins, freshman liaison for the NAACP, saw the reception as beneficial to him as a student.
“It is a great opportunity for me to see how diverse the faculty is,” Wiggins said.
Jim Horton, a professor for GW’s American studies department, described teaching at GW since the mid-1970s.
“When I came here in 1977, I was the only African-American professor here,” Horton said.
Horton told students that he has learned an important lesson from his more than 20 years of teaching at GW.
“GW is a good place to be, but it’s very important to be active, or you can be very isolated,” Horton said.
Emeruwa said students and professors need to make concerted efforts to encourage interaction between minority students and professors.
“We will definitely need to keep the dialogue going,” she said. “You are our role models, and this is important to everyone.”
