The Black Graduate Student Association (BGSA) will host its welcome reception on Oct. 2 Friday 5 to 7 p.m in the Cartwright Hall Atrium.

Members of the BGSA executive board will be present at the reception to answer questions about the organization. The reception is to help students connect and network with black students, faculty, staff and administrators from a variety of disciplines.

Ashley Johnson, executive chair of BGSA, said that everyone from different backgrounds is invited.

“I want them to know that the purpose of BGSA is to meet the professional, social, and academic needs of black graduate students,” Johnson said. “Our organization recognizes graduation with masters or Ph.D. as a top priority. Subsequently, this organization is dedicated to the promotion of academic excellence, mentoring, professional guidance, and social support that will enhance the scholarship of black graduate students at Kent State University.”  

Johnson said the reception’s main goal is students connecting with one another.

“The primary goal of the welcome reception is to provide an informal environment for black graduate students to network with fellow black graduate students, faculty, staff, and administrators in,” Johnson said. “We also plan to make attendees aware of the purpose of BGSA and what we hope to accomplish as an organization for the 2015-2016 academic year.”

The most important thing for the organization, however, is that they plan to use these tools to empower the community and assist with opening the doors to higher education to more individuals from culturally diverse backgrounds, Johnson said.

Contact Simon Hannig at [email protected].