Last Thursday, students were given the opportunity to attend a life-changing event. This event, titled “Student Activism 101,” was put forth to equip students with the necessary information and techniques needed to start a safe and successful student movement.
Rachel Ross, program director for the Holmes Cultural Diversity Center, was one of the leaders behind the wonderful event.
“As student activism becomes more commonplace across university campuses, we thought providing a platform to educate our students about how to effectively demonstrate and voice their opinions would be appropriate,” Ross said. “We hope students gain a deeper understanding of why, how and what to do to be effective student activists.”
Ross had even better things to say once the workshop was over.
“The Student Activism 101 workshop went better than expected,” Ross said. “We had twice as many students attend than we were expecting, and their purposes for attending varied tremendously. We had students representing religious organizations, Black student organizations, Latino student organizations, environmental organizations, and they were very engaged in learning about activism.”
According to Ross, it was a great program, and she couldn’t have been happier to be a part of something that was developed to give students a chance to create action plans to stand up for causes they believe in. 
Tekita Bankhead, a 2014 Mississippi State graduate and assistant director of the African American Culture Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was one of the facilitators for the event.
“It was a privilege and an honor to host this workshop,” Bankhead said. “Judging from the conversations we had, I can tell that MSU is blessed to have several dedicated and passionate student leaders. Student activism looks different for everyone and every person, regardless of roles or preferred methods for seeking change, is crucial to the success of a movement. It was also important for students to gain a set of skills and knowledge that would help them develop safe, strategic and effective movements for change on their campus.”
Not only did the event benefit the students, but Bankhead said it taught her some things as well.
“For me, I was simply grateful to HCDC for the wonderful opportunity to bring my consulting and facilitation experiences back to one of my beloved alma maters,” she said. “Though there are major changes that are happening on campuses across the nation, I trust that the continual improvement of MSU through activism is in great hands.”
If anyone was unable to attend this workshop, come out to Lee Hall’s Bettersworth Auditorium tonight at 7 p.m., for “Say Her Name: Gender, Feminism, and the Black Lives Matter Movement.” Alicia Garza, co-creator of the famous #blacklivesmatter hashtag, will be speaking.
For questions on Student Activism 101, contact Rachel Ross at [email protected].