S.A. McMillan/The Corsair
by S.A. McMillan
An organization that promotes unity and constructive contribution, the African-American Student’s Association is involved at all of the Pensacola State College campuses, except for the newest locations in Navarre and Century, and anyone who can maintain a 2.0 GPA and a positive attitude are welcome to join.
Al Huffman, counselor and adviser at PSC’s Warrington campus, explained what the AASA is about.
“The African American Student’s Association is an organization particularly for people of color to have a sense of belonging.” he said. “Even though we call it the African American Students Association, we don’t weed anybody out.”
Huffman admits that this type of harmony has not always been easy.
“A lot of times, people like to associate with people that look like them, talk like them, act like them or are from their neighborhood, and sometimes you might be the only minority, or one of two, and you can feel a little left out,” he said. “Once again, it’s to promote togetherness, but it’s not to promote separatism.”
Anyone is welcome at the meetings, which are once a week or bi-weekly, and the best way to find out about the next meeting is to speak to one of the advisers on each campus.
“We want positive people doing positive things,” he said. “If you’re not about something positive, we don’t want to deal with you.”
Huffman said the sense of belonging is the AASA’s main focus, but they also do work in our community
“Right now we got a group of our students going down to a day care, volunteering their time,” he said.
With Thanksgiving and Christmas on the horizon, the AASA will need all the help they can get.
Every year, the association gives away at least one food basket or gift card to a family in need. For students who want to be involved but don’t have time to volunteer, donations of any kind would be helpful.