NAACP Has Record Number of Youth and College Units with EMERGE Plan

Crisis, The, Sep/Oct 2007 by Spencer, DeShuna

When the NAACP began its national campaign to increase its membership, Stefanie Brown, national director of the Youth & College Division, wanted to do her part by multiplying the units within her department.

When she came on board as director last year, Brown's goal was to boost the number of Youth & College Division chapters by 25 percent and membership by 10 percent between 2006 and 2007. And, as of June 2007, she is well on the way to reaching her goal with new units at 15 percent and overall membership at 6 percent. By winter, Brown believes that her division will be 5 percentage points shy of obtaining her new chapter target.

"I made it a priority to get not only new chapters, but to reach back to those units that may have fallen off," Brown said of the increase. "It was always a goal in the beginning."

To attain her objective, Brown implemented the EMERGE Plan of Action (E-education and training, M-membership, E-engagement, R-resources, G-goals, E-empowerment). The plan called for using media, new campaigns and existing members to recruit new members.

Her plan paid off. Between January 2006 and July 2007, 55 new youth units were established and 40 were reactivated. In 2006 alone, 1 ,400 new young people joined the organization.

One of the units that reactivated is the Princeton University NAACP College Chapter. Paige Floyd, a 19-year-old sophomore from Northfield, N.J., restructured the chapter after learning - in the summer leading up to her freshman year - that the chapter was defunct. She began asking African American students on campus about their interest in the organization, and the appeal to reform grew. The unit officially became active in June.

"The chapter was active about 10 years ago," said Floyd, the Princeton chapter's acting president and a member of the NAACP since high school. "When I came on campus, [Princeton] did not have a chapter. So I went to leaders in the Black Student Union and I formed an organization committee and we followed the steps to be reactivated."

In the fall, the chapter plans to form committees, hold elections and continue its push to recruit more members.

The initiative and leadership of young people such as Floyd are qualities that today's youth bring to the 98-year-old organization. Brown's goal is to continue to provide programs and training that can effectively foster future community leaders.

"Young people are so excited about the NAACP," Brown said of the growing membership. "The numbers are cool to look at; it's great to have those [membership] stats. But it's even more powerful to see the young people in action. Young people are at the podium. [We] are breaking out of our shell. We definitely have potential."

- DeShuna Spencer