Brittnei Neely, senior justice studies major, is president of KSU-NAACP for spring semester, until she graduates in May. Neely has been involved in the organization since her sophomore year and has plans to continue its success. BRIAN MARKS | DAILY KENT S

Credit: Ron Soltys

Brittnei Neely wants students to learn something from attending KSU-NAACP’s programs and events this semester.

The senior justice studies major will be taking over the position of KSU-NAACP president as former president Preston Mitchum studies in Washington, D.C., for the semester.

Neely has been involved with the group since her sophomore year. She formerly held the positions of secretary and the first vice president.

With KSU-NAACP being a fairly new organization, Neely said she would rather focus on quality over quantity.

“I have a strong group behind me, and we want to put on good, quality programs,” she said.

This year, she said, was the first time the group had discussion-based mass meetings, and she wants to continue to have these kinds of meetings to keep students engaged. Last semester, the group discussed issues such as hip-hop culture and youth violence.

“We have a lot of great ideas for this semester,” Neely said. “I want everybody to be able to walk away from our programs learning something.”

She noted a “Founders Celebration” in the works for February that would celebrate the 99th anniversary of NAACP. Other than that program, she said she and the other board members have a few “tentative ideas” for programs during February’s Black History Month and the rest of the semester.

Neely said she has been maintaining close contact with the chapter’s national representative and hopes to work with other collegiate chapters of NAACP and other on-campus student organizations.

Contact minority affairs reporter Christina Stavale at [email protected].