Elaina Eakle
ehe001@marietta.edu
After a year of inactivity, the Charles Sumner Harrison Organization (CSHO) has been reactivated at Marietta College.
The organization was created in 2005, and is named after the first African-American student to graduate from MC.
CSHO aims to increase unity on campus by providing transition support, programming, and workshops. Moreover, it emphasizes the importance of diversity and inclusion at the college.
“The group strives to establish a sense of unity among minority students at the college and to bridge the gap between the minority students and other students and faculty,” Shauntiel Oliver-Smith, the president of CSHO, said. “It represents the minority voice and advocates in a positive manner for any necessary changes.”
DeJuan Mitchell, the coordinator for diversity and inclusion at MC and current adviser of CSHO, played a significant role in reactivating the organization.
“As an undergraduate student I was a member of a Black Student Association and found camaraderie and leadership within the organization,” he said. “I feel CSHO operates in a similar capacity. Here at MC, there is a lack of diversity and a lack of places for underrepresented students [to] come together and have a voice. CSHO provides that opportunity.”
Oliver-Smith believes that in addition to increasing appreciation of diversity on campus, CSHO allows underrepresented students to gain support from others who understand the challenges they face.
“CSHO offers the ability for those students of culturally diverse backgrounds to connect with others on campus who are experiencing the same things they are,” she said. “CSHO has had events in which students were able to converse and make connections with alum who have experienced what they are experiencing now.”
Mitchell feels that CSHO will prove to be a valuable resource for MC students.
“My hope is for CSHO to become a very strong entity on campus and to be the ‘go to’ organization for our students who feel underrepresented,” he said. “So that collectively, they can build an organization that fosters their growth as leaders but also inclusion and diversity on campus.”
Oliver-Smith and Mitchell hope that CSHO will also encourage changes on campus.
“In order to increase unity on campus, we have to create an environment where minority students can fit in without feeling uncomfortable,” Oliver-Smith said. “This organization will represent the minority voice in a positive way and advocate for any changes that are needed within the college.”
Anissa Hiralall, a current member of CSHO, hopes that the organization will serve to educate MC students about diversity and inclusion.
“I became involved in [CSHO] because I wanted to learn about the diversity on our campus,” she said. “I hope the organization continues to teach students about diversity on campus and globally.”
CSHO is still in the process of reforming, but Mitchell hopes the organization will become fully established on campus by next semester.
