http://opencuny.org/africanastudiesgroup/

The mission of the Africana Studies Group (ASG) is to foster a student oriented intellectual space for interdisciplinary work in the field of Africana Studies at The Graduate Center. As such, ASG also seeks to build relationships with local organizations and Graduate Center based student groups with similar goals. The Graduate Center’s lack of racial diversity is a prime concern for ASG. As an integral part of the City University of New York higher education system, The Graduate Center is charged with serving the people of New York City. At the same time, one of the key challenges currently facing the Graduate Center is the failure to recruit and retain black and Latino students in numbers that reflect the diversity of the city. The lack of racial diversity among students and faculty poses a barrier for the establishment of the kinds of intellectual communities that ASG seeks to foster. As such, in addition to coordinating events related to the research interests of current students, ASG is engaged with numerous strategies (including hosting events, facilitating workshops and working with student government to create change at the administrative level) to increase racial diversity at the Graduate Center, including thereby strengthening its own membership and Africana Studies at The Graduate Center as a whole.