A newly formed student organization is hoping to recruit more students from different backgrounds to create a more diverse Miami University.
Miami Ambassadors Advocating Diversity (MAAD) formed this year to address the issue of diversity in the student body and to help promote Miami as an option for a more diverse body of potential students.
According to sophomore Patrick Keating, a founding member of MAAD, the group also recently applied for recognition by Associated Student Government (ASG) as an official student organization.
"We just finished and submitted all the paperwork (to become an organization)," Keating said.
According to Jonika Moore-Diggs, MAAD co-adviser and the assistant director of outreach and multicultural recruitment for the Office of Admission, the group grew as a result of President David Hodge's mission to promote diversity at Miami.
"(MAAD) birthed out of the Office of Admission," Moore-Diggs said. "In keeping with the president's mission on trying to increase diversity, we thought it would be a good thing to have a student group advocating for diversity."
The group sponsors various events.
"We have a camp for high school students from diverse backgrounds," Keating said. "About 70 kids come, and if they choose to come to Miami they get a scholarship."
MAAD also runs other programs and events throughout the year to potentially attract diverse students.
"(We have) a lot of student panels when prospective students come in and ice cream socials when big groups of students come in," Keating said. "We run a lot of events at the Office of Diversity Affairs."
According to Moore-Diggs, MAAD has been especially good about promoting diversity across campus.
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"They do quite a bit for the campus," Moore-Diggs said. "I can tell you they serve as the student voice for diverse students and students from diverse backgrounds."
Moore-Diggs has also found MAAD to be an indispensable resource for the Office of Admission.
"A lot of things we do need to involve students and the process of trying to recruit students is daunting, so having a group that you can connect with and then facilitate the outreach to students on campus has been extremely beneficial," Moore-Diggs said.
Keating said the ultimate goal of the group is to travel across the state to promote Miami as a viable school option for students from different backgrounds.
"Something we hope to do in the fall is go to a lot of area high schools and talk about Miami," Keating said. "(We want to go to) the inner city where they usually don't get a lot of attention."
Since MAAD began meeting during the first semester of this school year, the group has already grown from seven students to more than 25.
"The way that Miami is going right now with the past few classes, we are getting people from a lot of different backgrounds," Keating said. "I see us doing a lot more for the Miami community in the future, not just prospective students."
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