Juhee Agrawal
Contributing Reporter
[email protected]
National Panhellenic Council (NPHC)
Jeremiah Spillers, junior in healthcare management, serves as president of the National Panhellenic Council (NPHC). Spillers said the NPHC hosts the Divine Nine organizations, which are historically African-American sororities and fraternities. UAB has eight of the Divine Nine organizations.
“The purpose is to promote unity, academic achievement and spiritual growth within the community of African Americans,” Spillers said. Spillers said he joined NPHC and his fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi, Inc. because of the mentors he had growing up.
“I had a lot of family members part of that fraternity that showed me what achievement looks like,” Spillers said. “I wanted to do that within not only myself but my community.” Spillers said that having organizations focused on the black student experience helps support them.
“A lot of people need guidance on how to properly move through that aspect in their life,” Spillers said. “Having workshops or people coming to talk to them shows that they are not alone, and they can get through this with help and the proper guidance.”
Spillers said he has gained a lot of leadership development, networking and friends from becoming a part of NPHC.
“I would encourage people to join an organization – not even NPHC – but an organization where they can become a part of a community and build a family with,” Spillers said. “That’s a great base to start your college and professional career.”
Photo courtesy of BMEN.
Blazer Male Excellence Network (BMEN)
Antonio Parker, junior on the pre-nursing track, serves as a lead mentor of the Blazer Male Excellence Network (BMEN). Parker said BMEN is a peer mentoring program designed to increase the academic and social status of entering black freshmen at UAB.
“Since the program has started, there has been an increase in African American males graduating on time,” Parker said.
Parker said he joined BMEN during the second semester of his freshmen year.
“As a result, my public speaking skills have increased, I’m more outspoken (and) I come out of my shell more,” Parker said. “I’ve gained networking skills and professional development that will definitely set me up for success when applying for grad schools or any type of careers that I pursue.”
Parker said BMEN hosts social events, such as an event on healthy relationships and academic workshops. “Recently we had a Black and Abroad workshop, where alumni of BMEN spoke with the mentees about studying abroad and taking advantages of the opportunities at UAB,” Parker said.
Photo courtesy of BWOMEN.
Blazer Women Mentoring Excellence Network (BWOMEN)
Erica Campbell, senior in community health and human services, serves as president of the Blazer Women Mentoring Excellence Network (BWOMEN). She said she joined BWOMEN partly because she did service in high school and wanted to continue that in college.
“I admired the service they were trying to do, that they would highlight black women on campus with 3.0 GPAs or higher,” Campbell said. “We have a celebration of excellence every year for (this).”
Campbell said when she got to campus, BWOMEN was small, but she saw the potential for it to grow into something bigger.
“We also want it to be a safe space for black women on campus to voice their opinions, be heard and promote their ideas on a predominantly white campus,” Campbell said.
Tips for continuing the conversation about black history black history after black history month
Erica Campbell: “We shouldn’t confine it to one month. We learn about American history in school. American history is black history, but we don’t learn about black history in schools. Self-education is very important, and more of black history should be in school’s curriculums.”
Jeremiah Spillers: “Continue to network with other black student organizations and try to build unity between black students and others that share similar backgrounds, such as similar (majors).”
Antonio Parker: “Be more open to having dialogue about how we can improve as a community at UAB”
