After being inactive for a semester for failing to comply with national standards, the University chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is resurfacing on campus.

“Nationally, you have to have a certain amount of paid members and that’s what we were trying to get to so we could get our member compliance together,” said LaRetha Spain-Shuler, University NAACP advisor.

Kenneth Duncan, a freshman studying internation business, finance and German, started the UGA NAACP. ALLISON LOVE/Staff

The national organization requires at least 25 active members, but once senior officers graduated membership lagged. Another issue Spain-Shuler found was that the members weren’t paying their $15 dues, $9 of which went to the national organization and the remaining $6 for the chapter.

The organization plans to have a more visible presence after a significant drop in membership following the spring 2011 semester.

Spain-Shuler said as a member of the national organization she can offer them the leadership necessary to comply with local and national rules.

“It’s such a viable group that it was important for me to get them back to where they were in the past,” she said.

Kenneth Duncan, vice president of the organization, is hoping to restore the University chapter to its former state, adding part of the problem was poor leadership.

“My hope is, personally, to bring a freshman base that we can have all four years,” he said.

Duncan said part of the UGA NAACP’s approach is for each of the nine board members find five new members to bring the total membership to 45 people.

“Since I’m a freshman, I feel personally responsible for recruiting,” he said.

Though the organization has a method for recruiting, the most difficult part is gaining student support.
“The overall response is, for the amount of freshmen there are — it’s small. But for membership it’s large,” he said, adding that 10 freshmen have joined.

Despite little publicity, Duncan hopes the new association will function as an “umbrella organization” with representatives from other student groups.

“I think the most important thing is that we can unify,” he said. “A lot of people look at the NAACP as a black organization and we’re trying to move past that.”
Duncan said the group will have a welcome for new members on Feb. 12.