Nigerian Student Association aims to uplift, educate underrepresented communities at LU
October 05, 2022 | by Shelbe Rodriguez
There’s a new student organization piquing the interest of Cardinals across campus: The Nigerian Student Association.
“I started this organization because I felt like there wasn’t a student organization on campus that catered to Nigerian and African students and I wanted to be around more people like me,” said Victoria Adelagun, junior psychology major and president of the organization.
Victoria Adelagun, president of the Nigerian Student Association
More recently, Lamar University has been named among the most diverse universities nationally and the 5th highest on the diverse index among public institutions in Texas as reported by U.S. News & World Report. While some refer to the university as a melting pot of diversity, Adelagun said in her eyes, there’s one main ingredient.
“When you take a good look at the demographic on campus especially Africans here at Lamar University, it’s mostly Nigerian and everyone does not have the same background,” she said. “I wanted to open up our Nigerian culture for people to learn more about it. There are also some stereotypes surrounding our culture, so we wanted to break those stereotypes and spread awareness.”
On Aug. 1, Adelagun said she and a few friends officially chartered the organization with their mission in mind, but students interested in joining the organization do not have to be from Nigeria.
“Anyone can join and we want everyone to feel welcomed. It’s a student organization and our main goal is to educate people on our culture including traditions, history, Nigerian food, music and everything,” she said. “My favorite part of Nigerian culture is our clothing. It’s colorful, very vibrant and it’s reflective of our culture and all that it represents. I’m excited to share that with the rest of our campus here at LU.”
