Black Retail Action Group returns to campus

Tony White
Wed, 28 Mar 2018 02:13:11 +0000
Arts & Life, back on campus, black retail action group, fashion and retail studies, fashion organization, featured, retail, student organization

A student organization for minorities interested in fashion is returning to campus this semester after a group of students decided they were not represented by current student organizations.

“While there are a lot of fashion groups on campus, there aren’t any groups focused on helping minorities,” Iman Eaton, president of the Black Retail Action Group, said. “This is why this group is important.”

The Black Retail Action Group became inactive around two years ago after many seniors on the executive board graduated without recruiting members to take their place, Eaton said.

“You need a certain number of members to be considered an active group, so we faded,” she said.

Now Eaton and other students are working to bring the group back, though they do not have an exact date for when the group will be official.

“We currently have weekly meetings with members of our e-board and we are talking to other organizations to make sure we get everything together to become an official group again,” Eaton said.

These meetings are used to orchestrate events and programs the group is planning to hold by the end of this semester.

Ciara Walker, a member of the Black Retail Action Group, said the group’s activities often include attending gallery hops, inviting guest speakers and networking events.

These events will focus on professional development and building a networking system for students of color on campus and in the Columbus area, Walker said.

“The impact so far has been to bring students of color together and make more of a community and voice in retail,” Walker said.

Though the group wants to help black students and other minorities make a career in fashion, being a student of color is not required to become a member, Eaton said.

She said people should know that the only thing needed to become a member is to be a student eager to learn about and pursue fashion.

“It doesn’t matter if you have a lot of experience, a little experience, or no experience at all,” Eaton said. “Come as you are, we want to learn and grow together.”

The Black Retail Action Group will host its first mixer before the end of the semester, but exact dates, times and locations have yet to be finalized, Eaton said.