Club formed to educate, explain African heritage to students
By Cherice Hopkins
Skiff Staff

Some students of African descent said they feel Africans are stereotyped as loin cloth-wearing people living in the midst of wild animals.

Senior nursing major Chinwe Ononogbu, sophomore criminal justice major Bolu Odelusi and sophomore sociology major Rahwa Neguse are all originally from Africa. In an effort to educate students about their culture, they formed the African Heritage Organization, a club that meets weekly in the Student Center.

Ononogbu and Odelusi are both Nigerian but come from different tribes. Neguse is from Eritrea, a small country next to Ethiopia.

“The main (purpose of the club) is to educate people about the African culture and how we affect the global community,” Ononogbu said.

The first major project of the organization is a “Don’t Believe the Hype” event in December. The goal is to raise awareness of AHO and show Africa’s influence in the world by sharing through music, performances and displaying products.

Neguse said she enjoys learning about other cultures and sharing her own.

“I don’t feel justice was done to that continent (Africa),” Neguse said, referring to the International Student Association’s representation of African students.

Ononogbu said other nationalities in ISA had extra organizations representing their cultures, but Africa did not.

After Neguse, Odelusi and Ononogbu attended a program sponsored by the University of Texas at Arlington’s African Student Organization, the three students decided to start a similar organization at TCU.

Ononogbu said many other schools have African organizations, but that they basically have similar purposes — they support each other and attend each other’s programs.

Neguse, Odelusi and Ononogbu talked to students about the possibility of starting an African organization at TCU. While the women said they saw a desire among black students for an organization targeted toward them, they also encountered negativity. Many students told them it wouldn’t work.

“They said it wouldn’t work because every year someone tries to start a black organization,” Ononogbu said.

But members said that just encouraged them.

“To tell you the truth, that just pumped us up,” Odelusi said.

She said the African Heritage Organization is different from other black organizations for two reasons. One, it is not just for fun, but educational. Two, AHO is about African heritage, not being black.

The last organization to focus on the black community’s culture was Legacy, which ended in spring 2000. Intercultural Education and Services Director Darron Turner said there were two attempts to start other black organizations, but they were not successful. AHO is the first black heritage organization since Legacy.

When talking with students about the reasons Legacy ended, Neguse said students mentioned a lack of organization, a lack of commitment and a lack of realistic expectations.

Odelusi said she hopes this organization will help African-Americans become aware of their African ancestry. She said she wants them to see that they have no reason to be ashamed of their culture.

Turner said he believes AHO will succeed.

“These students are more focused on relationships and when you have that focus, organizations tend to run well,” he said.

The first AHO meeting was Oct.15 and they had an average of 25 students at their first two meetings. As was the hope, the attendance was diverse with students of African, African-American and Latino ethnicities.

Neguse said there will probably be some controversy as the meetings continue. She said that in order to talk about heritage, members have to talk about history and hard topics such as slavery will come up.

AHO meets at 7 p.m. every Tuesday in the Student Center. The meeting room changes, but students who are interested can e-mail (AHO_tcu@yahoo.com) for more information.

Odelusi challenges students who don’t believe this organization has anything for them to look at the TCU mission statement.

“To be an ethical leader you must be aware, knowledgeable and not stay in the box,” she said.

Cherice Hopkins